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I feel that the industry, in its current state is not sustainable. With no new Sega console, and the Nintendo and X-Box still on the horizon, with very little details known, there appears to be no industry advancements in the near future. Apart from the GBA, there are very few new products out within the next two months.
Proof of this is that Sony has had to slash the price of the PS2 by £30. Although people may be glad to see the back of Sega in the console market, it may be too much of a wait for the X-Box, to prop up the market interest.
There is only one main console on the market, and with much criticism, the market will be liable to collapse. Sony cannot maintain last years growth in the console market.
Sony brought gaming to the masses, and so the N64 and DC were also made successful. The money gained from this supported many of the smaller development houses, which in turn supported the console market.
Now that there is only one main console (Not including the DC), many of the smaller houses developing for the X-Box and GC, there will be no substantial income for the forseeable future. This coupled with the poor financial results of the main publishers of the last fiscal year will be detrimental to the quality and quantity of games appearing on the next gen consoles.
Unless Sony can once again re-establish the gaming market, then it may collapse before the X-Box and GC are released, and this is not likely with the reasonbale difficulty with which games are developed. The gaming industry is deteriorating steadily, and the large capital investment promised by Microsoft may be too late, as there are very few certainties regarding it.
Proof of this is that Sony has had to slash the price of the PS2 by £30. Although people may be glad to see the back of Sega in the console market, it may be too much of a wait for the X-Box, to prop up the market interest.
There is only one main console on the market, and with much criticism, the market will be liable to collapse. Sony cannot maintain last years growth in the console market.
Sony brought gaming to the masses, and so the N64 and DC were also made successful. The money gained from this supported many of the smaller development houses, which in turn supported the console market.
Now that there is only one main console (Not including the DC), many of the smaller houses developing for the X-Box and GC, there will be no substantial income for the forseeable future. This coupled with the poor financial results of the main publishers of the last fiscal year will be detrimental to the quality and quantity of games appearing on the next gen consoles.
Unless Sony can once again re-establish the gaming market, then it may collapse before the X-Box and GC are released, and this is not likely with the reasonbale difficulty with which games are developed. The gaming industry is deteriorating steadily, and the large capital investment promised by Microsoft may be too late, as there are very few certainties regarding it.
It is onl yabout 4-5 months wait, and by then we shall all have R GBA's for company and ANYONE who does wanna but the XBOX, yeah!
I wouldn't be so against it if the XBOX games worked on a PC, ahh well!
Then there is about 4-5 months till the GC comes out!
And maybe after a year the GC comes out SEGA might get it together and bring out a new console...who knows!
I wouldn't be so against it if the XBOX games worked on a PC, ahh well!
Then there is about 4-5 months till the GC comes out!
And maybe after a year the GC comes out SEGA might get it together and bring out a new console...who knows!
yeah roll on November, but we still have to wait until next spring till we can get our hands on a PAL version.
on a different note, has anyone seen alone in the dark ofr the normal game boy color? the graphics look amazing for somthin on the GBC!
on a different note, has anyone seen alone in the dark ofr the normal game boy color? the graphics look amazing for somthin on the GBC!
The games industry will survive, it just needs a kick in the right direction. Hopefully the increased competition will do that. Then things will start to get exciting, if you look at both Nintendos Gamecube and Microsofts X-box both machines seem to have impressive specs and a lot of support within the industry.
It will nice to finally be living the Future of Gaming, as oppossed to waiting for it to happen, roll on November.
It will nice to finally be living the Future of Gaming, as oppossed to waiting for it to happen, roll on November.
You may not have noticed, but according to all the experts the games industry, worth £7 billion, is going through a rough patch at the moment. “How can that be?” I hear you cry. “Surely with the PS2 improving, and the GameCube, GameBoy Advance and Xbox on the way, this is a great time for gamers, is it not?” Well, read on and I’ll explain…
The fact is the gaming industry is in a bit of a slump. The big publishers like Eidos and Codemasters have reported falling profits and share prices, and many smaller developers are letting staff go or even going out of business. It’s not that fewer games are being sold – quite the opposite in fact – but it’s to do with profit. Games today are becoming more and more expensive to make. Developers may need to buy many pieces of software for physics, textures, polygons, mip-mapping, etc. because all today’s games (apparently) require top-notch graphics to be a success. Also, many of today’s developers want to make games with an epic, cinematic feel, in contrast with bedroom developers of days gone by, who could create innovative, fun titles for next to nothing.
Anyway, many games are now sold at budget price, therefore the profits fall – obviously high production cost + low selling price = low profits. Video-game piracy also contributes to this. Another reason for the slump is that we are between consoles at the moment – the Dreamcast and N64 are coming to an end of their lives and the PS2 is still finding its feet (amazingly, the PSone and GameBoy continue to sell well, effectively keeping the market afloat). Many ‘casual gamers’ are waiting for the PS2 to drop in price or for big-name titles like Metal Gear Solid 2 to be released.
The slump was inevitable really, after the PlayStation introduced gaming to the masses. You see, Johnny Brand-Name, the casual gamer, will quite happily (and stupidly) buy Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Simpsons Wrestling and every FIFA game, leaving the smaller developers’ more innovative and original titles sitting on the shelf.
There’s nothing to worry about really – the industry should recover whenever the PS2 gets some competition from the GameCube and Xbox, if not sooner. As long as developers can realise that all games don’t have to be like films and cost millions of pounds, we’ll be fine. We may be going through a bit of a lean spell at the moment, but the future is indeed bright for gaming.
And don’t take any notice of Nintendo president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, who said, “If the games industry went away, it’s not like people would keel over and die on the street. You don’t need games to live after all.” Yeah, right!
The fact is the gaming industry is in a bit of a slump. The big publishers like Eidos and Codemasters have reported falling profits and share prices, and many smaller developers are letting staff go or even going out of business. It’s not that fewer games are being sold – quite the opposite in fact – but it’s to do with profit. Games today are becoming more and more expensive to make. Developers may need to buy many pieces of software for physics, textures, polygons, mip-mapping, etc. because all today’s games (apparently) require top-notch graphics to be a success. Also, many of today’s developers want to make games with an epic, cinematic feel, in contrast with bedroom developers of days gone by, who could create innovative, fun titles for next to nothing.
Anyway, many games are now sold at budget price, therefore the profits fall – obviously high production cost + low selling price = low profits. Video-game piracy also contributes to this. Another reason for the slump is that we are between consoles at the moment – the Dreamcast and N64 are coming to an end of their lives and the PS2 is still finding its feet (amazingly, the PSone and GameBoy continue to sell well, effectively keeping the market afloat). Many ‘casual gamers’ are waiting for the PS2 to drop in price or for big-name titles like Metal Gear Solid 2 to be released.
The slump was inevitable really, after the PlayStation introduced gaming to the masses. You see, Johnny Brand-Name, the casual gamer, will quite happily (and stupidly) buy Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Simpsons Wrestling and every FIFA game, leaving the smaller developers’ more innovative and original titles sitting on the shelf.
There’s nothing to worry about really – the industry should recover whenever the PS2 gets some competition from the GameCube and Xbox, if not sooner. As long as developers can realise that all games don’t have to be like films and cost millions of pounds, we’ll be fine. We may be going through a bit of a lean spell at the moment, but the future is indeed bright for gaming.
And don’t take any notice of Nintendo president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, who said, “If the games industry went away, it’s not like people would keel over and die on the street. You don’t need games to live after all.” Yeah, right!
The GBA will succeed, due to the fact that it has a niche market, in the fact that its only competitors are also made by Nintendo. It is advanced, for a handheld device, and also has a great number of portable games from the SNES. This will also support the resurgance of retro gaming, as many of the great games from that era may get the accolades it deserves.
Nintendo will not be able to rest on its laurels though, as people may expect it to have some compatibilty with the GC, much like the GB did with the N64.
It will also support original games, as the limitations of it compared to full blown consoles will not allow companies like Rare to rely on people being aken by the graphics, ignoring the gameplay side. The original GB had many games like this, such as Tetris, Alleyway etc.
It is a waste to see the enormous powers of consoles being used to create glorified FMV's, without any consideration given to how the game plays.
Nintendo will not be able to rest on its laurels though, as people may expect it to have some compatibilty with the GC, much like the GB did with the N64.
It will also support original games, as the limitations of it compared to full blown consoles will not allow companies like Rare to rely on people being aken by the graphics, ignoring the gameplay side. The original GB had many games like this, such as Tetris, Alleyway etc.
It is a waste to see the enormous powers of consoles being used to create glorified FMV's, without any consideration given to how the game plays.
This is excluding the release of the GBA I suppose?
Anythings possible I guess... But I doubt it...
Anythings possible I guess... But I doubt it...
Well nintendo mkae loads of games for their own consoles anyway so The GC shoudnt see a lack of games becasue nintendo are making loads of profit.
I feel that the industry, in its current state is not sustainable. With no new Sega console, and the Nintendo and X-Box still on the horizon, with very little details known, there appears to be no industry advancements in the near future. Apart from the GBA, there are very few new products out within the next two months.
Proof of this is that Sony has had to slash the price of the PS2 by £30. Although people may be glad to see the back of Sega in the console market, it may be too much of a wait for the X-Box, to prop up the market interest.
There is only one main console on the market, and with much criticism, the market will be liable to collapse. Sony cannot maintain last years growth in the console market.
Sony brought gaming to the masses, and so the N64 and DC were also made successful. The money gained from this supported many of the smaller development houses, which in turn supported the console market.
Now that there is only one main console (Not including the DC), many of the smaller houses developing for the X-Box and GC, there will be no substantial income for the forseeable future. This coupled with the poor financial results of the main publishers of the last fiscal year will be detrimental to the quality and quantity of games appearing on the next gen consoles.
Unless Sony can once again re-establish the gaming market, then it may collapse before the X-Box and GC are released, and this is not likely with the reasonbale difficulty with which games are developed. The gaming industry is deteriorating steadily, and the large capital investment promised by Microsoft may be too late, as there are very few certainties regarding it.
Proof of this is that Sony has had to slash the price of the PS2 by £30. Although people may be glad to see the back of Sega in the console market, it may be too much of a wait for the X-Box, to prop up the market interest.
There is only one main console on the market, and with much criticism, the market will be liable to collapse. Sony cannot maintain last years growth in the console market.
Sony brought gaming to the masses, and so the N64 and DC were also made successful. The money gained from this supported many of the smaller development houses, which in turn supported the console market.
Now that there is only one main console (Not including the DC), many of the smaller houses developing for the X-Box and GC, there will be no substantial income for the forseeable future. This coupled with the poor financial results of the main publishers of the last fiscal year will be detrimental to the quality and quantity of games appearing on the next gen consoles.
Unless Sony can once again re-establish the gaming market, then it may collapse before the X-Box and GC are released, and this is not likely with the reasonbale difficulty with which games are developed. The gaming industry is deteriorating steadily, and the large capital investment promised by Microsoft may be too late, as there are very few certainties regarding it.