Best of the 3 said:
Interesting that Jim also mentions it as soon as CleverNoob also puts out a documentary related to it, that the game industry is going through, or might possibly go through similar change to that of the 80's. I was not around back then so I can't really say. But it'd be interesting if it did. A massive crash will clear up the crap. It'll cause innovation and possibly turn the game industry around for the better. But something I have to ask, to Jim or to anyone who wants to / can answer, will it happen? Or is it just a case of speculation.
What I understand from talking to my parents who were big time into playing video games before and during the 80s there were two main factors that stopped the gaming industry from quickly releasing shitty games. The first thing was boycotting games because of the high price of games and the quality compared to the price. In some cases even if they thought they might enjoy one of the ones released they actively decided to do something else with the money, go to a concert or spend it on any other form of entertainment instead. The second thing was pirating. They said there was a staggering amount of piracy or buying of pirated games going on within the group of people they knew. This is probably why EA is so bent on always online DRM but the fact that pirates can disable this and prove that the game works offline illustrates how stupid a business practice it is, making things more difficult for the consumers and easier for the pirates to play the game. They lost a lot of money through piracy and boycotting I'm sure, but there were probably other factors considering the $3.1 billion price tag shown in that video you posted.
Anyway, I'm boycotting EA, Blizzard, and Ubisoft right now and feeling fine about it. I doubt anyone could say for sure if it will happen again (or if it hasn't already happened) but I think it is likely. Personally I couldn't give a single shit for companies that want to "stick a leash up my ass" to quote John Spartan, with online drm so that I can play the games I already pay good money for, day one DLCs and pay to win games.