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Xbox successor in development. Nintendo announcing they won’t be repeating their customary ‘wait-until-we’ve-given-everyone-a-head-start’ routine by announcing new technology is being produced to succeed Gamecube. Long heralded, everyone and their Granny knows PS3 is quite some way along the production stage, probably with the ability to make cups of tea, feed the cat and almost every other conceivable feature man can create. 2005 seems to be the expected date for the arrival of these consoles – only a couple of years away from now and with all three just getting into their stride. But is this the way forward? Is every half-decade going to be punctuated with announcements of new consoles just as the dust is settling on the old ones? That’s right, I’m going to talk about a much-maligned subject on these forums despite two of them being dedicated to it – the future of gaming.
As it stands, the main beneficiary is us, the consumer. Spoilt for choice, gaming is in arguably the finest period since its inception. Working part-time for Virgin Megastores has given me unrivalled access to industry journals (I can almost feel you going green with envy), which proudly boast of burgeoning sales figures and make grand statements like ‘This is the year of gaming’ and ‘Games are the new DVD’. Frankly, gaming has been a growth industry for ages – whereas the perpetual image seems to be of some spotty computer geek sitting 24/7 at his PC, games has evolved into a more mainstream form of entertainment. Despite the rumblings of the respective fanboy, every console has something to offer an ever-expanding market. Which begs the question, why are they in such a hurry to release new ones? Most developers would assert that it takes a fair few years to squeeze the optimum capabilities out of the hardware – compare the graphics of 1995’s WWF: In Your House to Smackdown 2. Mario 64 to Zelda: Majora’s Mask. Most of the consoles of today are just getting into their stride – in development PS2 games are showing unheralded promise that the likes of Ridge Racer 5 and Tekken Tag Tournament only hinted at. The motivating factor in all of this is, as ABBA so eloquently put it…
Money, money, money.
The money men seem to be taking hold – from a purely business perspective (bear with me, I’m an Economics student and desperate to relate an iota of something I learn to something remotely relevant), the aforementioned rhetoric of ‘Games is the new DVD’, whilst beneficial to us in the short run, is likely to have dollar signs ringing up in the eyes of potential investors. It can be argued that increasing the wealth of games doesn’t necessarily improve quality – just look at the PSOne – some startlingly innovative titles, but only after you waded through a myriad of bog-standard, formulaic driving/shoot ‘em ups to get there. And that, my friends, is what I believe will happen again – by releasing another load of consoles so soon, a ‘two-tier’ system will be created, forcing most dedicated gamers (i.e. us) to purchase the new ones, leaving the multitude of gamers who just got a brand new console for Christmas with the old version.
What does this mean? For a start, it could have implications on the quality of games – will games only be developed for PS3, Xbox2 or GC2? If they are, then most people with the old consoles will be reluctant to keep their old machines, practically forcing them to upgrade – reaching something of a PC scenario (a situation made or the more realistic by the various add-ons and what not proposed by companies like Sony). What does it bode for the much-heralded online aspect? Will certain games run on all consoles? I know some of you are reading this thinking ‘yeah, but there’s ages till the new consoles are out’ but it will come sooner than you think, and people will still be buying the old ones. And what about after? Will this rivalry transcend to a level where new add-ons or consoles are constantly being released just to get one-up on their competitors in a ruthless bid to emerge victorious. Again the argument ‘the consumer benefits’ does have some truth, but I know I don’t want a consistently empty wallet just to keep up with the latest stuff.
Apologies if this seems a little incoherent – it’s my first long post in ages, my brains processing ideas faster than I can type them, and my minds scrambled. A fair few of you may scoff at my suggestions, and fair enough – this is but mindless speculation. But in the context of saturations of other markets, games may be next. The relative insignificance of games as a medium of entertainment may have actually been beneficial to the industry – the last thing we want is everyone and their dog seeing a pot of cash and forcing their own way into the industry. Something to think about.
Thanks for reading.
As it stands, the main beneficiary is us, the consumer. Spoilt for choice, gaming is in arguably the finest period since its inception. Working part-time for Virgin Megastores has given me unrivalled access to industry journals (I can almost feel you going green with envy), which proudly boast of burgeoning sales figures and make grand statements like ‘This is the year of gaming’ and ‘Games are the new DVD’. Frankly, gaming has been a growth industry for ages – whereas the perpetual image seems to be of some spotty computer geek sitting 24/7 at his PC, games has evolved into a more mainstream form of entertainment. Despite the rumblings of the respective fanboy, every console has something to offer an ever-expanding market. Which begs the question, why are they in such a hurry to release new ones? Most developers would assert that it takes a fair few years to squeeze the optimum capabilities out of the hardware – compare the graphics of 1995’s WWF: In Your House to Smackdown 2. Mario 64 to Zelda: Majora’s Mask. Most of the consoles of today are just getting into their stride – in development PS2 games are showing unheralded promise that the likes of Ridge Racer 5 and Tekken Tag Tournament only hinted at. The motivating factor in all of this is, as ABBA so eloquently put it…
Money, money, money.
The money men seem to be taking hold – from a purely business perspective (bear with me, I’m an Economics student and desperate to relate an iota of something I learn to something remotely relevant), the aforementioned rhetoric of ‘Games is the new DVD’, whilst beneficial to us in the short run, is likely to have dollar signs ringing up in the eyes of potential investors. It can be argued that increasing the wealth of games doesn’t necessarily improve quality – just look at the PSOne – some startlingly innovative titles, but only after you waded through a myriad of bog-standard, formulaic driving/shoot ‘em ups to get there. And that, my friends, is what I believe will happen again – by releasing another load of consoles so soon, a ‘two-tier’ system will be created, forcing most dedicated gamers (i.e. us) to purchase the new ones, leaving the multitude of gamers who just got a brand new console for Christmas with the old version.
What does this mean? For a start, it could have implications on the quality of games – will games only be developed for PS3, Xbox2 or GC2? If they are, then most people with the old consoles will be reluctant to keep their old machines, practically forcing them to upgrade – reaching something of a PC scenario (a situation made or the more realistic by the various add-ons and what not proposed by companies like Sony). What does it bode for the much-heralded online aspect? Will certain games run on all consoles? I know some of you are reading this thinking ‘yeah, but there’s ages till the new consoles are out’ but it will come sooner than you think, and people will still be buying the old ones. And what about after? Will this rivalry transcend to a level where new add-ons or consoles are constantly being released just to get one-up on their competitors in a ruthless bid to emerge victorious. Again the argument ‘the consumer benefits’ does have some truth, but I know I don’t want a consistently empty wallet just to keep up with the latest stuff.
Apologies if this seems a little incoherent – it’s my first long post in ages, my brains processing ideas faster than I can type them, and my minds scrambled. A fair few of you may scoff at my suggestions, and fair enough – this is but mindless speculation. But in the context of saturations of other markets, games may be next. The relative insignificance of games as a medium of entertainment may have actually been beneficial to the industry – the last thing we want is everyone and their dog seeing a pot of cash and forcing their own way into the industry. Something to think about.
Thanks for reading.
Aren't Nintendo already giving out some details of their new machine? Hm. It happens and gaming is one of those things that moves too fast sometimes. It means that classic games are left out in the cold because they look so ill and pale next to next-gen games that aren't necessarally as good.
Which, with some stroke of luck, leads me to a topic I had been meaning to write for a while.
So I did.
Which, with some stroke of luck, leads me to a topic I had been meaning to write for a while.
So I did.
Shadow Knight wrote:
> will you be posting any good peices of info on here from work or are
> you swun (sp?) to secrercy?
I won't get anything before the net does, rather I'm more privy to industry news, e.g. what publisher's buying who, how games are going to be advertised etc.
Which, when you think about it, sounds mind-numbingly boring.
> will you be posting any good peices of info on here from work or are
> you swun (sp?) to secrercy?
I won't get anything before the net does, rather I'm more privy to industry news, e.g. what publisher's buying who, how games are going to be advertised etc.
Which, when you think about it, sounds mind-numbingly boring.
will you be posting any good peices of info on here from work or are you swun (sp?) to secrercy?
Xbox successor in development. Nintendo announcing they won’t be repeating their customary ‘wait-until-we’ve-given-everyone-a-head-start’ routine by announcing new technology is being produced to succeed Gamecube. Long heralded, everyone and their Granny knows PS3 is quite some way along the production stage, probably with the ability to make cups of tea, feed the cat and almost every other conceivable feature man can create. 2005 seems to be the expected date for the arrival of these consoles – only a couple of years away from now and with all three just getting into their stride. But is this the way forward? Is every half-decade going to be punctuated with announcements of new consoles just as the dust is settling on the old ones? That’s right, I’m going to talk about a much-maligned subject on these forums despite two of them being dedicated to it – the future of gaming.
As it stands, the main beneficiary is us, the consumer. Spoilt for choice, gaming is in arguably the finest period since its inception. Working part-time for Virgin Megastores has given me unrivalled access to industry journals (I can almost feel you going green with envy), which proudly boast of burgeoning sales figures and make grand statements like ‘This is the year of gaming’ and ‘Games are the new DVD’. Frankly, gaming has been a growth industry for ages – whereas the perpetual image seems to be of some spotty computer geek sitting 24/7 at his PC, games has evolved into a more mainstream form of entertainment. Despite the rumblings of the respective fanboy, every console has something to offer an ever-expanding market. Which begs the question, why are they in such a hurry to release new ones? Most developers would assert that it takes a fair few years to squeeze the optimum capabilities out of the hardware – compare the graphics of 1995’s WWF: In Your House to Smackdown 2. Mario 64 to Zelda: Majora’s Mask. Most of the consoles of today are just getting into their stride – in development PS2 games are showing unheralded promise that the likes of Ridge Racer 5 and Tekken Tag Tournament only hinted at. The motivating factor in all of this is, as ABBA so eloquently put it…
Money, money, money.
The money men seem to be taking hold – from a purely business perspective (bear with me, I’m an Economics student and desperate to relate an iota of something I learn to something remotely relevant), the aforementioned rhetoric of ‘Games is the new DVD’, whilst beneficial to us in the short run, is likely to have dollar signs ringing up in the eyes of potential investors. It can be argued that increasing the wealth of games doesn’t necessarily improve quality – just look at the PSOne – some startlingly innovative titles, but only after you waded through a myriad of bog-standard, formulaic driving/shoot ‘em ups to get there. And that, my friends, is what I believe will happen again – by releasing another load of consoles so soon, a ‘two-tier’ system will be created, forcing most dedicated gamers (i.e. us) to purchase the new ones, leaving the multitude of gamers who just got a brand new console for Christmas with the old version.
What does this mean? For a start, it could have implications on the quality of games – will games only be developed for PS3, Xbox2 or GC2? If they are, then most people with the old consoles will be reluctant to keep their old machines, practically forcing them to upgrade – reaching something of a PC scenario (a situation made or the more realistic by the various add-ons and what not proposed by companies like Sony). What does it bode for the much-heralded online aspect? Will certain games run on all consoles? I know some of you are reading this thinking ‘yeah, but there’s ages till the new consoles are out’ but it will come sooner than you think, and people will still be buying the old ones. And what about after? Will this rivalry transcend to a level where new add-ons or consoles are constantly being released just to get one-up on their competitors in a ruthless bid to emerge victorious. Again the argument ‘the consumer benefits’ does have some truth, but I know I don’t want a consistently empty wallet just to keep up with the latest stuff.
Apologies if this seems a little incoherent – it’s my first long post in ages, my brains processing ideas faster than I can type them, and my minds scrambled. A fair few of you may scoff at my suggestions, and fair enough – this is but mindless speculation. But in the context of saturations of other markets, games may be next. The relative insignificance of games as a medium of entertainment may have actually been beneficial to the industry – the last thing we want is everyone and their dog seeing a pot of cash and forcing their own way into the industry. Something to think about.
Thanks for reading.
As it stands, the main beneficiary is us, the consumer. Spoilt for choice, gaming is in arguably the finest period since its inception. Working part-time for Virgin Megastores has given me unrivalled access to industry journals (I can almost feel you going green with envy), which proudly boast of burgeoning sales figures and make grand statements like ‘This is the year of gaming’ and ‘Games are the new DVD’. Frankly, gaming has been a growth industry for ages – whereas the perpetual image seems to be of some spotty computer geek sitting 24/7 at his PC, games has evolved into a more mainstream form of entertainment. Despite the rumblings of the respective fanboy, every console has something to offer an ever-expanding market. Which begs the question, why are they in such a hurry to release new ones? Most developers would assert that it takes a fair few years to squeeze the optimum capabilities out of the hardware – compare the graphics of 1995’s WWF: In Your House to Smackdown 2. Mario 64 to Zelda: Majora’s Mask. Most of the consoles of today are just getting into their stride – in development PS2 games are showing unheralded promise that the likes of Ridge Racer 5 and Tekken Tag Tournament only hinted at. The motivating factor in all of this is, as ABBA so eloquently put it…
Money, money, money.
The money men seem to be taking hold – from a purely business perspective (bear with me, I’m an Economics student and desperate to relate an iota of something I learn to something remotely relevant), the aforementioned rhetoric of ‘Games is the new DVD’, whilst beneficial to us in the short run, is likely to have dollar signs ringing up in the eyes of potential investors. It can be argued that increasing the wealth of games doesn’t necessarily improve quality – just look at the PSOne – some startlingly innovative titles, but only after you waded through a myriad of bog-standard, formulaic driving/shoot ‘em ups to get there. And that, my friends, is what I believe will happen again – by releasing another load of consoles so soon, a ‘two-tier’ system will be created, forcing most dedicated gamers (i.e. us) to purchase the new ones, leaving the multitude of gamers who just got a brand new console for Christmas with the old version.
What does this mean? For a start, it could have implications on the quality of games – will games only be developed for PS3, Xbox2 or GC2? If they are, then most people with the old consoles will be reluctant to keep their old machines, practically forcing them to upgrade – reaching something of a PC scenario (a situation made or the more realistic by the various add-ons and what not proposed by companies like Sony). What does it bode for the much-heralded online aspect? Will certain games run on all consoles? I know some of you are reading this thinking ‘yeah, but there’s ages till the new consoles are out’ but it will come sooner than you think, and people will still be buying the old ones. And what about after? Will this rivalry transcend to a level where new add-ons or consoles are constantly being released just to get one-up on their competitors in a ruthless bid to emerge victorious. Again the argument ‘the consumer benefits’ does have some truth, but I know I don’t want a consistently empty wallet just to keep up with the latest stuff.
Apologies if this seems a little incoherent – it’s my first long post in ages, my brains processing ideas faster than I can type them, and my minds scrambled. A fair few of you may scoff at my suggestions, and fair enough – this is but mindless speculation. But in the context of saturations of other markets, games may be next. The relative insignificance of games as a medium of entertainment may have actually been beneficial to the industry – the last thing we want is everyone and their dog seeing a pot of cash and forcing their own way into the industry. Something to think about.
Thanks for reading.