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As I lay in bed last night having played Ikaruga some time earlier, I thought about why quality games like that aren’t seen in the all-formats charts. Then I remembered that in general, the games buying public is stupid.
There is no finer an example than Enter the Matrix.
Some say it’s great, some say it’s crap, but no matter your opinion, the game is currently flying off the shelves and will sit proudly atop the charts for some considerable time no doubt.
But the common consensus is that the game is poor (I don’t know about you, but no reviews available before launch smelt pretty fishy to me), so why is it number 1? Hype and the gullibility of blinded mass-market zealots are the number one suspects.
I’m looking forward to Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines as I’m a big fan of the series and of the Austrian Oak himself, but will I buy the game if it looks crap? No, no I won’t. So why so many people are buying a crap game baffles me.
-“But it’s the Matrix, you can do kung fu.” Never heard of Street Fighter or its modern successors?
-“There’s two cool characters whose levels intertwine with the film.” So, two uninteresting characters adding depth to a highly overrated film, big deal.
-“You can do hacking.” So, buy a crummy flat and a load of computer equipment and try the real thing.
-“It’s fun.” So is Zelda: The Wind Waker, so is Ico, so is Rez. They are fun beyond belief, but did they sell shed load of copies? Nope.
-“It’s cool.” The killer line. What does “cool” have to do with the quality of the game? Absolutely nothing, it’s the thing most people are influenced by. It’s definitely *not* cool. In fact, it’s so bad I’d call it uncool.
In the end, the mass buying of a poor product like Enter the Matrix will ruin the games industry. Think of it; you have enough money for one game. You browse the shelves and see two games: Enter the Matrix and SOS: The Final Escape on PS2.
Which do you choose, the hyped up film conversion that relies on the movie to influence geeky zealots, or a highly original, though pretty much unheard of title?
It seems the majority like their healthy dose of mass-market mediocrity and are willing to ignore little gaming gems.
The problem with this is money. Eventually, smaller games companies *will* go out of business because of this sort of ignorant buying. It has already happened with a number of veteran games companies, and will happen more and more when people favour games like Enter the Matrix over better, more original games. Just by the fact that Nintendo, undoubtedly the greatest developer, is struggling proves that the majority of gamers don’t favour great games but mass-market rubbish instead.
The success of Enter the Matrix will also prove that instead of spending time and huge effort in creating an amazing piece of software, games companies can just get a movie license and churn out a poor rushed game to coincide with the film’s release and that will sell due to the name of the movie alone. This will happen more and more leading to plenty more mediocrity instead of well-made titles.
At the end of the day, you’re not just going to ruin the games industry for yourselves, but you’ll ruin it for me too, someone who doesn’t buy into the hype of your Enter the Matrix, FIFA or Lord of the Rings cash-ins, someone who favours SOS: The Final Escape over generic shallow crap pumped out for healthy profit. But that’s the way the games industry will go.
I can just imagine the games industry in 5 years time, with the charts filled up with crap sequels and movie tie-ins, and no Nintendo or other sparks of flair or originality to be seen, still, if that’s the way you want it. In 5 years time when you realise the poor state of the industry, just remember that it was the success of Enter the Matrix that planted the seeds of mediocrity and that whoever was foolish enough to buy it was partly responsible.
*slow hand clap for blinded zealots*
Enjoy playing Enter the Matrix, and enjoy the downward spiral in quality it represents.
There is no finer an example than Enter the Matrix.
Some say it’s great, some say it’s crap, but no matter your opinion, the game is currently flying off the shelves and will sit proudly atop the charts for some considerable time no doubt.
But the common consensus is that the game is poor (I don’t know about you, but no reviews available before launch smelt pretty fishy to me), so why is it number 1? Hype and the gullibility of blinded mass-market zealots are the number one suspects.
I’m looking forward to Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines as I’m a big fan of the series and of the Austrian Oak himself, but will I buy the game if it looks crap? No, no I won’t. So why so many people are buying a crap game baffles me.
-“But it’s the Matrix, you can do kung fu.” Never heard of Street Fighter or its modern successors?
-“There’s two cool characters whose levels intertwine with the film.” So, two uninteresting characters adding depth to a highly overrated film, big deal.
-“You can do hacking.” So, buy a crummy flat and a load of computer equipment and try the real thing.
-“It’s fun.” So is Zelda: The Wind Waker, so is Ico, so is Rez. They are fun beyond belief, but did they sell shed load of copies? Nope.
-“It’s cool.” The killer line. What does “cool” have to do with the quality of the game? Absolutely nothing, it’s the thing most people are influenced by. It’s definitely *not* cool. In fact, it’s so bad I’d call it uncool.
In the end, the mass buying of a poor product like Enter the Matrix will ruin the games industry. Think of it; you have enough money for one game. You browse the shelves and see two games: Enter the Matrix and SOS: The Final Escape on PS2.
Which do you choose, the hyped up film conversion that relies on the movie to influence geeky zealots, or a highly original, though pretty much unheard of title?
It seems the majority like their healthy dose of mass-market mediocrity and are willing to ignore little gaming gems.
The problem with this is money. Eventually, smaller games companies *will* go out of business because of this sort of ignorant buying. It has already happened with a number of veteran games companies, and will happen more and more when people favour games like Enter the Matrix over better, more original games. Just by the fact that Nintendo, undoubtedly the greatest developer, is struggling proves that the majority of gamers don’t favour great games but mass-market rubbish instead.
The success of Enter the Matrix will also prove that instead of spending time and huge effort in creating an amazing piece of software, games companies can just get a movie license and churn out a poor rushed game to coincide with the film’s release and that will sell due to the name of the movie alone. This will happen more and more leading to plenty more mediocrity instead of well-made titles.
At the end of the day, you’re not just going to ruin the games industry for yourselves, but you’ll ruin it for me too, someone who doesn’t buy into the hype of your Enter the Matrix, FIFA or Lord of the Rings cash-ins, someone who favours SOS: The Final Escape over generic shallow crap pumped out for healthy profit. But that’s the way the games industry will go.
I can just imagine the games industry in 5 years time, with the charts filled up with crap sequels and movie tie-ins, and no Nintendo or other sparks of flair or originality to be seen, still, if that’s the way you want it. In 5 years time when you realise the poor state of the industry, just remember that it was the success of Enter the Matrix that planted the seeds of mediocrity and that whoever was foolish enough to buy it was partly responsible.
*slow hand clap for blinded zealots*
Enjoy playing Enter the Matrix, and enjoy the downward spiral in quality it represents.
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As I lay in bed last night having played Ikaruga some time earlier, I thought about why quality games like that aren’t seen in the all-formats charts. Then I remembered that in general, the games buying public is stupid.
There is no finer an example than Enter the Matrix.
Some say it’s great, some say it’s crap, but no matter your opinion, the game is currently flying off the shelves and will sit proudly atop the charts for some considerable time no doubt.
But the common consensus is that the game is poor (I don’t know about you, but no reviews available before launch smelt pretty fishy to me), so why is it number 1? Hype and the gullibility of blinded mass-market zealots are the number one suspects.
I’m looking forward to Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines as I’m a big fan of the series and of the Austrian Oak himself, but will I buy the game if it looks crap? No, no I won’t. So why so many people are buying a crap game baffles me.
-“But it’s the Matrix, you can do kung fu.” Never heard of Street Fighter or its modern successors?
-“There’s two cool characters whose levels intertwine with the film.” So, two uninteresting characters adding depth to a highly overrated film, big deal.
-“You can do hacking.” So, buy a crummy flat and a load of computer equipment and try the real thing.
-“It’s fun.” So is Zelda: The Wind Waker, so is Ico, so is Rez. They are fun beyond belief, but did they sell shed load of copies? Nope.
-“It’s cool.” The killer line. What does “cool” have to do with the quality of the game? Absolutely nothing, it’s the thing most people are influenced by. It’s definitely *not* cool. In fact, it’s so bad I’d call it uncool.
In the end, the mass buying of a poor product like Enter the Matrix will ruin the games industry. Think of it; you have enough money for one game. You browse the shelves and see two games: Enter the Matrix and SOS: The Final Escape on PS2.
Which do you choose, the hyped up film conversion that relies on the movie to influence geeky zealots, or a highly original, though pretty much unheard of title?
It seems the majority like their healthy dose of mass-market mediocrity and are willing to ignore little gaming gems.
The problem with this is money. Eventually, smaller games companies *will* go out of business because of this sort of ignorant buying. It has already happened with a number of veteran games companies, and will happen more and more when people favour games like Enter the Matrix over better, more original games. Just by the fact that Nintendo, undoubtedly the greatest developer, is struggling proves that the majority of gamers don’t favour great games but mass-market rubbish instead.
The success of Enter the Matrix will also prove that instead of spending time and huge effort in creating an amazing piece of software, games companies can just get a movie license and churn out a poor rushed game to coincide with the film’s release and that will sell due to the name of the movie alone. This will happen more and more leading to plenty more mediocrity instead of well-made titles.
At the end of the day, you’re not just going to ruin the games industry for yourselves, but you’ll ruin it for me too, someone who doesn’t buy into the hype of your Enter the Matrix, FIFA or Lord of the Rings cash-ins, someone who favours SOS: The Final Escape over generic shallow crap pumped out for healthy profit. But that’s the way the games industry will go.
I can just imagine the games industry in 5 years time, with the charts filled up with crap sequels and movie tie-ins, and no Nintendo or other sparks of flair or originality to be seen, still, if that’s the way you want it. In 5 years time when you realise the poor state of the industry, just remember that it was the success of Enter the Matrix that planted the seeds of mediocrity and that whoever was foolish enough to buy it was partly responsible.
*slow hand clap for blinded zealots*
Enjoy playing Enter the Matrix, and enjoy the downward spiral in quality it represents.
There is no finer an example than Enter the Matrix.
Some say it’s great, some say it’s crap, but no matter your opinion, the game is currently flying off the shelves and will sit proudly atop the charts for some considerable time no doubt.
But the common consensus is that the game is poor (I don’t know about you, but no reviews available before launch smelt pretty fishy to me), so why is it number 1? Hype and the gullibility of blinded mass-market zealots are the number one suspects.
I’m looking forward to Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines as I’m a big fan of the series and of the Austrian Oak himself, but will I buy the game if it looks crap? No, no I won’t. So why so many people are buying a crap game baffles me.
-“But it’s the Matrix, you can do kung fu.” Never heard of Street Fighter or its modern successors?
-“There’s two cool characters whose levels intertwine with the film.” So, two uninteresting characters adding depth to a highly overrated film, big deal.
-“You can do hacking.” So, buy a crummy flat and a load of computer equipment and try the real thing.
-“It’s fun.” So is Zelda: The Wind Waker, so is Ico, so is Rez. They are fun beyond belief, but did they sell shed load of copies? Nope.
-“It’s cool.” The killer line. What does “cool” have to do with the quality of the game? Absolutely nothing, it’s the thing most people are influenced by. It’s definitely *not* cool. In fact, it’s so bad I’d call it uncool.
In the end, the mass buying of a poor product like Enter the Matrix will ruin the games industry. Think of it; you have enough money for one game. You browse the shelves and see two games: Enter the Matrix and SOS: The Final Escape on PS2.
Which do you choose, the hyped up film conversion that relies on the movie to influence geeky zealots, or a highly original, though pretty much unheard of title?
It seems the majority like their healthy dose of mass-market mediocrity and are willing to ignore little gaming gems.
The problem with this is money. Eventually, smaller games companies *will* go out of business because of this sort of ignorant buying. It has already happened with a number of veteran games companies, and will happen more and more when people favour games like Enter the Matrix over better, more original games. Just by the fact that Nintendo, undoubtedly the greatest developer, is struggling proves that the majority of gamers don’t favour great games but mass-market rubbish instead.
The success of Enter the Matrix will also prove that instead of spending time and huge effort in creating an amazing piece of software, games companies can just get a movie license and churn out a poor rushed game to coincide with the film’s release and that will sell due to the name of the movie alone. This will happen more and more leading to plenty more mediocrity instead of well-made titles.
At the end of the day, you’re not just going to ruin the games industry for yourselves, but you’ll ruin it for me too, someone who doesn’t buy into the hype of your Enter the Matrix, FIFA or Lord of the Rings cash-ins, someone who favours SOS: The Final Escape over generic shallow crap pumped out for healthy profit. But that’s the way the games industry will go.
I can just imagine the games industry in 5 years time, with the charts filled up with crap sequels and movie tie-ins, and no Nintendo or other sparks of flair or originality to be seen, still, if that’s the way you want it. In 5 years time when you realise the poor state of the industry, just remember that it was the success of Enter the Matrix that planted the seeds of mediocrity and that whoever was foolish enough to buy it was partly responsible.
*slow hand clap for blinded zealots*
Enjoy playing Enter the Matrix, and enjoy the downward spiral in quality it represents.
I totally agree. It saddens me when I realise that people believe they are getting the best experience in Gaming, when they're really fooling themselves.
I try to support the gaming industry, I really do. It's hard at the moment, but after GCSEs and when my birthday comes I'm hoping to buy Ikaruga, SOAL, etc. While I'm not so spineless that I have to relie on Magazines efore I buy games, and I do have my opinion, it's just that after purchasing games I was going to get anyway (Regardless of that brilliant reviews they received) I actually agreed with NGC. They know what they're talking about, so why can't people realise this?
I try to support the gaming industry, I really do. It's hard at the moment, but after GCSEs and when my birthday comes I'm hoping to buy Ikaruga, SOAL, etc. While I'm not so spineless that I have to relie on Magazines efore I buy games, and I do have my opinion, it's just that after purchasing games I was going to get anyway (Regardless of that brilliant reviews they received) I actually agreed with NGC. They know what they're talking about, so why can't people realise this?
It's quiet similar to music apart from the fact taste isn't really that important in games. You get your pop tarts and your boybands up there in the top of the charts (its going RnB these days though) and songs in other genres just take a backseat, low in the charts or out of them. And thats the thing that gets people interested in something, if it's just shoved in their face through mass advertising.
Nintendo are still in there mostly because they have loyal fans who have grown up with their games. However, the future may be a different one, what with people growing up playing other mass-market games.
Nintendo are still in there mostly because they have loyal fans who have grown up with their games. However, the future may be a different one, what with people growing up playing other mass-market games.
I thought ETM was great, but you raised some good points there.
Here, have a cookie.
Here, have a cookie.
Soon, and I mean REALLY soon, videogames will de-generate into what they were 10 years ago - bliss.
You know why I think this? My step-brother. My stupid, fan boy, twatish little step-brother. He laughs at me when I say that I plan to still be playing games this time in 5 years. He makes jokes about how I have too many games. He wants to sell his X-Box and PS2, the former whoich he only got at Christmas, and he really is 'bored' by gaming.
Step back 2 months though and he was buying gaming magazines, buying new games every week (trading in the game that he'd only got last week to do so might I add) and spending days playing Championship Manager.
All that isn't because of him 'growing up'. It's him following the crowd, doing what his mates tell him to do, being a sheep. The gaming community is mainly made up of people like him - people who only buy games when they see a 'cool' advert or they see the latest movie tie in - the gamers that are only there because it is popular - the reason why GAME is full of people with 'Generic Shooter 3 :Blood and Guns' (which, might I add, is n extremely poor game) every saturday.
Don't you worry. True brilliant will suceed. In due time, my precious
You know why I think this? My step-brother. My stupid, fan boy, twatish little step-brother. He laughs at me when I say that I plan to still be playing games this time in 5 years. He makes jokes about how I have too many games. He wants to sell his X-Box and PS2, the former whoich he only got at Christmas, and he really is 'bored' by gaming.
Step back 2 months though and he was buying gaming magazines, buying new games every week (trading in the game that he'd only got last week to do so might I add) and spending days playing Championship Manager.
All that isn't because of him 'growing up'. It's him following the crowd, doing what his mates tell him to do, being a sheep. The gaming community is mainly made up of people like him - people who only buy games when they see a 'cool' advert or they see the latest movie tie in - the gamers that are only there because it is popular - the reason why GAME is full of people with 'Generic Shooter 3 :Blood and Guns' (which, might I add, is n extremely poor game) every saturday.
Don't you worry. True brilliant will suceed. In due time, my precious
EtM does not hail a downward slide of gaming quality. It just cements the fact that the Matrix is a really hot license, and the good timing combined with the fact that it gives you a whole new dimension to the story has given it huge sales.
It's like The Getaway; all the hype, and great storytelling...only this time the gameplay is pretty good too. The driving and flying around is rubbish, but not even Payne got to do kung fu (without a mod, anyhow), and the set pieces like the mini-Lobby on the first level are great. I can't understand why everyone whines about the game so much.
And on the subject of Fifa, PES2 was very close to it in sales at the start (might have even overtaken it) because word gets around. People I would think of as casual gamers are starting to pick Pro Evo over Fifa, and at the same time EA are striving to actually improve their own product beyond new shirts and teams (I'm actually backing Fifa 2004 to be better than PES3). EA did it with Tiger Woods so they can do it with this.
It's like The Getaway; all the hype, and great storytelling...only this time the gameplay is pretty good too. The driving and flying around is rubbish, but not even Payne got to do kung fu (without a mod, anyhow), and the set pieces like the mini-Lobby on the first level are great. I can't understand why everyone whines about the game so much.
And on the subject of Fifa, PES2 was very close to it in sales at the start (might have even overtaken it) because word gets around. People I would think of as casual gamers are starting to pick Pro Evo over Fifa, and at the same time EA are striving to actually improve their own product beyond new shirts and teams (I'm actually backing Fifa 2004 to be better than PES3). EA did it with Tiger Woods so they can do it with this.
Totoro wrote:
> Just remember that it was the success of Enter the Matrix that planted > the seeds of mediocrity and that whoever was foolish enough to buy it
> was partly responsible
Yeah sure, so by buying a a game with a big licence, I'm going to be partly responsible for other games companies going out of business. Makes sense to me. Wasn't Enter The Matrix developed by Shiny (not a big company by any means, I could count the number of their releases in the last few years on one hand) and published by Atari, who if memory serves me correct, aren't exactly rolling in cash at the moment?
And I don't appreciate being called 'foolish' for buying a game which I enjoy. It's called opinion my friend, just because you think a game is poor, doesn't mean others are idiots for buying it. At the end of the day, if you want to play 'alternative' games like SOS or Ikaruga or Rez that's fine, I'm sure they're all well and good, but stop trying to act like you're better than people who buy FIFA games or games with big licences, because it isn't very becoming.
Besides, the fact that you're playing these alternative games disproves your point - they're coming out anyway, aren't they? When was the last time you read about a little-known game that you got really excited about, then got canned because the company went out of business? Normally when people go under, their assets are saved and sold off to other companies, so any good stuff will see the light of day anyway - see Rage for an example, I believe Rocky 2 will still be released.
> Just remember that it was the success of Enter the Matrix that planted > the seeds of mediocrity and that whoever was foolish enough to buy it
> was partly responsible
Yeah sure, so by buying a a game with a big licence, I'm going to be partly responsible for other games companies going out of business. Makes sense to me. Wasn't Enter The Matrix developed by Shiny (not a big company by any means, I could count the number of their releases in the last few years on one hand) and published by Atari, who if memory serves me correct, aren't exactly rolling in cash at the moment?
And I don't appreciate being called 'foolish' for buying a game which I enjoy. It's called opinion my friend, just because you think a game is poor, doesn't mean others are idiots for buying it. At the end of the day, if you want to play 'alternative' games like SOS or Ikaruga or Rez that's fine, I'm sure they're all well and good, but stop trying to act like you're better than people who buy FIFA games or games with big licences, because it isn't very becoming.
Besides, the fact that you're playing these alternative games disproves your point - they're coming out anyway, aren't they? When was the last time you read about a little-known game that you got really excited about, then got canned because the company went out of business? Normally when people go under, their assets are saved and sold off to other companies, so any good stuff will see the light of day anyway - see Rage for an example, I believe Rocky 2 will still be released.
There was only one thing missing from that statement Snuggly - 'You, my son, have a hardcorer - than - thou attitude which many gamers seem to have on this forum at the minute.'
Go on, say it.
I love that statement.
Go on, say it.
I love that statement.
Oh, and apart from a few people on these forums, I haven't seen a single review for Enter The Matrix that's been under 7/10 or around that area. And I read a lot of magazines, and visit a lot of websites, so don't tell me the general consensus is the game is 'poor'. I'm sure you could point me to some, but that's besides the point - it's opinion, and if people to choose to buy a game that appeals to them, who are you to judge?
And the reason the game wasn't pre-released for review was the it featured contents that would have spoiled the film, it gives away many plot details and has major cut-scenes from the movie that would have spoilt it for people like me.
And the reason the game wasn't pre-released for review was the it featured contents that would have spoiled the film, it gives away many plot details and has major cut-scenes from the movie that would have spoilt it for people like me.
Snuggly, I've seen a promo copy on eBay...which is weird considering how tight they wanted to keep the story.
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