My thoughts on the subject are mixed (like usual).
Game development is not a public service, game developers and producers have always been in this for the money. I have no fundemental objection to this as I am a capitolist to the core. On the other hand I *DO* have issues with the way the game industry operates, which I have covered in other messages on the subject.
Simply put consoles seem to be a big "boom market" because there are more gamers out there than ever before, and most of those people are fairly young (despite what some polls say) and interested in flashy, low-IQ, console games. Your typical gamer today lacks the patience, backround, and dare I say intelligence, to really use the PC platform, which is one of the reasons why they go for the console "stick game in, play game" format. With the PC things seem fairly simple if you get it, but after installation many people wind up dealing with problems. Something as simple as resizing the display settings, adjusting brightness from an options menu, or remapping key commands to be more comfortable are all things people have problems with. It might seem that I'm being insulting, but on Gamefaqs and similar sites I have seen *MANY* messages over the years from people saying they only played on consoles usually, but wanted to do a specific game on the PC and were having problems that were incredibly simple to solve, but needed someone to more or less hold their hands and specificlly tell them what to do within an options menu.
What's more the PC gamers that are out there have been gravitating towards MMORPG games. One of the "benefis" of playing an MMORPG as some will point out is that the people get so obsessed with the game they are playing/paying a subscription for, that they lose interest
in other games. Without any real complaint (as an MMORPG player myself, despite playing other games and formats) I think that without games like "World Of Warcraft" the PC gaming market would have a lot more consumers buying games.
Piracy is by and large an excuse made by companies who are abandoning PC development for consoles, and stabbing the core fans they have who supported their products in the back. After all consoles have pirates as well. Basically there is an "uber bucks" sign flashing in console development, and everyone is running for what they see is the big market.
The problem is that I think the console market being "uber bucks" for game developers is something of an illusion. The entire phenomena strikes me as being similar to the "Dot Com" boom of a decade or so ago. I think that as more and more companies begin focusing exclusively on consoles, the market is going to be split more ways, and the shares each company are going to be able to rake in are going to become smaller. As it is the gaming industry relies on corruption and cartel behavior to operate, especially on consoles. Should someone in goverment start actually paying attention that could also bring a premature explosion. Just imagine what would happen if the industry was investigated for price fixing like gas companies (when they have more or less admitted to coordinating price hikes, and setting prices), or if the industry started seeing prosecution for things like adjusting schedules so as not to release games at the time of a major title like "Modern Warfare 2".
I'll also say that while as a capitolist there is nothing wrong with pursueing money, but I also think it's kind of ridiculous when you have companies turning their nose up at solid niche markets that make a good profit, for the chance at making even bigger ones. The behavior is very greedy, and slimy, especially when it involves turning on loyal supports among the consumers. People in the industry know it, which is why they make feeble attempts to justify their behavior.
I think there are enough PCs out there that PC gaming will never die. I also tend to think that companies who are willing to stick with stability are going to benefit in the long run. Those working on developing PC games now are going to be well set, and probably somewhat protected when the console bubble bursts.
If nothing else, consider also that all these kids playing shooters nowadays are going to grow up. Their twitchy little fingers are going to slow down, and they will begin to think differantly (adults and kids do think differantly). Deeper, less reflex based games are going to be in demand again, and to be honest I don't think console interfaces are going to be able to support that demand.
What's more I really feel for some of the game companies who are listening to console manufacturers about these motion contols and such because of the Wii's surprise success. It very much reminds me of some of the things people were rushing to do when the dotcom boom (again) was going on. All these stupid, but allegedly "revolutionary" ideas that had people going "WTF". I mean honestly I can't see many people, especially adults (no offense to those who play the occasional wiiplay type title) spazzing out with a controller regularly. Especially not if they try and build serious games around it that require constant, vigorous input. To an extent Wii works because a lot of the most popular games can be played (somewhat) from a chair. For example while doing Wii bowling few people in my experience actually stand up to do it.... and it's a very slow game. Try imagining having to do things like fight Ninjas and dodge bullets in real time,I think that's why a lot of the "serious" wii games fail... you can't play them without feeling like a moron.... and yet people are being convinced that this is where they should invest millions.
Such are my thoughts.
At any rate, good luck to Epic. I understand their perspective. Truthfully the game I remember them for was "Solar Winds". They have had no interest in that franchise or anything similar to it, and most of their productions don't excite me (I'm not a big FPS player). It's not one of the companies I'm going to mourn.
