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Who controls the gaming world? Is it the gamers who keep the industry alive or the developers who set the pace for advancement? Perhaps the manufacturers have the greatest say? Then again, the middlemen, in the form of publishers, seem to get a big share of the market? Well, the balance of power has shifted significantly...
Once upon a time, in the good old days of the SNES and Mega Drive, it was the manufacturers and gamers themselves who did all the talking. Manufacturers could chose who they let develop for their console and were largely in charge of marketing games, and gamers voted for developers with their feet. The majority of gamers chose the SNES, forcing Sega to create games like Sonic and make sure they got arcade perfect conversions like Mortal combat to equal the SNES's share of the market. Oh, those were the days when the gamer really made sure that games were good...
But by the time Sony came out of the ashes of the 16bit era to dominate with the Playstation, things really began to change. Publishers were needed by small developers for investment as costs rose. As a result the publishers took control of the games being produced, as well as areas like marketing and release dates. Sony, being the new guys on the market, needed all the third party support they could muster, so allowed publishers to do pretty much what they wanted. The balance of power had shifted...
Now, entering the mass-market 3-generation console race, things have once again changed. This time, retailers are getting the upper hand.
You see, to get a game onto the shelves of most games stores you need to have it in the stores catalogue. Which, for a fee of several thousand pounds, is open to all. Once in the shop, you have to pay for how prominently it is displayed- whatever the quality of the game. Finally, if the store has any leftover, unsold copies whatsoever, stores demand that the publisher buy them back at full price. So, while publishers and developers had a hard time financially last year, retailers saw massive increases in sales.
Odd how power changes hands.
Sonic
POWER TO THE HEDGEHOG
Once upon a time, in the good old days of the SNES and Mega Drive, it was the manufacturers and gamers themselves who did all the talking. Manufacturers could chose who they let develop for their console and were largely in charge of marketing games, and gamers voted for developers with their feet. The majority of gamers chose the SNES, forcing Sega to create games like Sonic and make sure they got arcade perfect conversions like Mortal combat to equal the SNES's share of the market. Oh, those were the days when the gamer really made sure that games were good...
But by the time Sony came out of the ashes of the 16bit era to dominate with the Playstation, things really began to change. Publishers were needed by small developers for investment as costs rose. As a result the publishers took control of the games being produced, as well as areas like marketing and release dates. Sony, being the new guys on the market, needed all the third party support they could muster, so allowed publishers to do pretty much what they wanted. The balance of power had shifted...
Now, entering the mass-market 3-generation console race, things have once again changed. This time, retailers are getting the upper hand.
You see, to get a game onto the shelves of most games stores you need to have it in the stores catalogue. Which, for a fee of several thousand pounds, is open to all. Once in the shop, you have to pay for how prominently it is displayed- whatever the quality of the game. Finally, if the store has any leftover, unsold copies whatsoever, stores demand that the publisher buy them back at full price. So, while publishers and developers had a hard time financially last year, retailers saw massive increases in sales.
Odd how power changes hands.
Sonic
POWER TO THE HEDGEHOG
Yeah, it's pretty scary how much power the likes of EB have nowadays. The thing that really bugs me is the 'exlusive to this store' thing that seems to be getting more common. Stuff like Kick Off 2 only being sold at EB shops, and the same thing happening with that mosquito game on PS2. And then there's that excellent little PC game, Uplink, which was out for months before the big shops would agree to sell it.
Thank god for the internet (and SR of corse).
Thank god for the internet (and SR of corse).
Who controls the gaming world? Is it the gamers who keep the industry alive or the developers who set the pace for advancement? Perhaps the manufacturers have the greatest say? Then again, the middlemen, in the form of publishers, seem to get a big share of the market? Well, the balance of power has shifted significantly...
Once upon a time, in the good old days of the SNES and Mega Drive, it was the manufacturers and gamers themselves who did all the talking. Manufacturers could chose who they let develop for their console and were largely in charge of marketing games, and gamers voted for developers with their feet. The majority of gamers chose the SNES, forcing Sega to create games like Sonic and make sure they got arcade perfect conversions like Mortal combat to equal the SNES's share of the market. Oh, those were the days when the gamer really made sure that games were good...
But by the time Sony came out of the ashes of the 16bit era to dominate with the Playstation, things really began to change. Publishers were needed by small developers for investment as costs rose. As a result the publishers took control of the games being produced, as well as areas like marketing and release dates. Sony, being the new guys on the market, needed all the third party support they could muster, so allowed publishers to do pretty much what they wanted. The balance of power had shifted...
Now, entering the mass-market 3-generation console race, things have once again changed. This time, retailers are getting the upper hand.
You see, to get a game onto the shelves of most games stores you need to have it in the stores catalogue. Which, for a fee of several thousand pounds, is open to all. Once in the shop, you have to pay for how prominently it is displayed- whatever the quality of the game. Finally, if the store has any leftover, unsold copies whatsoever, stores demand that the publisher buy them back at full price. So, while publishers and developers had a hard time financially last year, retailers saw massive increases in sales.
Odd how power changes hands.
Sonic
POWER TO THE HEDGEHOG
Once upon a time, in the good old days of the SNES and Mega Drive, it was the manufacturers and gamers themselves who did all the talking. Manufacturers could chose who they let develop for their console and were largely in charge of marketing games, and gamers voted for developers with their feet. The majority of gamers chose the SNES, forcing Sega to create games like Sonic and make sure they got arcade perfect conversions like Mortal combat to equal the SNES's share of the market. Oh, those were the days when the gamer really made sure that games were good...
But by the time Sony came out of the ashes of the 16bit era to dominate with the Playstation, things really began to change. Publishers were needed by small developers for investment as costs rose. As a result the publishers took control of the games being produced, as well as areas like marketing and release dates. Sony, being the new guys on the market, needed all the third party support they could muster, so allowed publishers to do pretty much what they wanted. The balance of power had shifted...
Now, entering the mass-market 3-generation console race, things have once again changed. This time, retailers are getting the upper hand.
You see, to get a game onto the shelves of most games stores you need to have it in the stores catalogue. Which, for a fee of several thousand pounds, is open to all. Once in the shop, you have to pay for how prominently it is displayed- whatever the quality of the game. Finally, if the store has any leftover, unsold copies whatsoever, stores demand that the publisher buy them back at full price. So, while publishers and developers had a hard time financially last year, retailers saw massive increases in sales.
Odd how power changes hands.
Sonic
POWER TO THE HEDGEHOG