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"Too many games?"

I was looking through one of the multi-format gaming magazines at the lists of games coming out over the next six months or so. There are so many! Developers seem to be working on hundreds, if not thousands of games even as we speak, but only a small fraction of these are probably going to be any good. There seem to be a lot of games being produced that are all pretty much the same with very few new ideas.

So is the industry working on too many games? Wouldn't it be better to concentrate on quality rather than quantity? Personally I'd rather have fewer games to choose from knowing that the one's I could buy were quality games...

What do you think?



Cheers,

Paul Harries
Aberystwyth

Usually I have a large list of games that I would want, but this year there is only one that I am even interested in. That is GTA:VC, I was looking at Stuntman but after playing the demo I was put off it as I found it frustrating and I cant be bothered with it.

Never too many games.

Oh please, a quality game should get dozens of hours of play time, if there were many more quality titles, there simply wouldn't be enough time to play them all effectively. Eventually, you would either have to compromise how much you play individual games, or compromise which games you play. Personally, I would not like to be forced to do either.

Good point. There are far too many bad games being released and the quality games can often get lost in the crowd. The problem is people still buy the rubbish games thus encouraging developers to keep pumping them out. You can draw a parallel to the film industry that also does likewise.

If a smaller publisher has five games in development simultaneously, that’s a massive strain on their resources and the quality will undoubtedly suffer. However they must decide whether it is more profitable to release 5 so-so games or one classic. There is an inherent risk in doing the latter but just look how successful Warcraft 3 is or Neverwinter Nights et al, have been.

The smaller companies ethos is understandable though; launch as many games as possible and hope to find either a niche market, an unheralded success (then sequel it to death) or just survival.

When all is said and done, buy well people, or you’ll only get what you deserve.

Lately I have only found the odd decent new game. When I won GAD I didn't know what to choose as there wan't any I wanted. So I think there are no way enough games.

Problem is we'll never be satisfied, no matter how much quality is on the market. If ONLY quality games were released, only quality games would be bought, the problem is with that is a continuing desire for improvement. So no matter how good they are made, we will want more.

Besides, as long as SOME quality games come out, we can be content. And I like playing games in a similar vein to other games I've enjoyed, even if they are of inferior quality. Let the games commence.

I was looking through one of the multi-format gaming magazines at the lists of games coming out over the next six months or so. There are so many! Developers seem to be working on hundreds, if not thousands of games even as we speak, but only a small fraction of these are probably going to be any good. There seem to be a lot of games being produced that are all pretty much the same with very few new ideas.

So is the industry working on too many games? Wouldn't it be better to concentrate on quality rather than quantity? Personally I'd rather have fewer games to choose from knowing that the one's I could buy were quality games...

What do you think?



Cheers,

Paul Harries
Aberystwyth