Jimquisition: The Survival of Horror

[coasttech]

Not the best episode for my girlfriend to walk in on.

 

[Strazdas]

October really is the worst month. Why does everything suddenly have to become about "horror" and "scary" things? Because of some bizarre American fascination with this "Halloween" thing that almost nobody else in the world gives a crap about?

Actually, a lot of countries out there care about it. Over here it was seen as such an awful thing, that there were even TV spots calling out parents to make their kids dress as fairies and shit. It was both depressing and hilarious.

And even more so, about 4-5 years ago some guys from evangelical churches (don't know if that's the actual term in english) asked for that day to be their holiday, and still most people call it Halloween, and it does basically take over the entire month. (I couldn't care less about some random religious made up holiday though)

Technically, November 1st is the day of all dead as per christian church, so the evangelist were correct on calling it so, though a day early
But thats pretty much all it is here. we have the day of the dead, which basically means you MUST visit all geraves of all relatives. the best part of it is every grave has candles and it looks good in the night.
The halloween stuff? yeah there are some american fanatics here, few and far between. the shops try to cater to such audience but i woudl hardly call it sucesful. Most people just enjoy a day of from work on november 1st.

The internet though. Its worse than the whole 2012 mania. Though christmas is still worse, but this got really bad lately. Sure, i understand, you want to go for halloween fans, but jesus christ some people would do that whole month 8 years in a row and thats around 99% of internet personas. enough is enough really.

The AAA game industry continues to exist because it's hanging on by a thread. Studios are constantly closing, laying off their employees, and selling off their studios to other AAA companies, all the while using their names to sell half-assed games to blind fanboys, On Disc DLC, DRM, and other underhanded tricks to sell enough keep themselves just barely afloat. 5 million sales of a game is STILL considered a loss in the AAA industry, when only a decade ago even getting half a million would be considered a smashing success. Regardless, surviving isn't anywhere close to thriving, the practices across this industry are slowly suffocating it to death. The people here are painting AAA gaming as really bad and unacceptable because these practices are not only terrible for the consumer, they're terrible for the health video game industry at large. We are complaining as much as we are because we all can see the writing on the wall and realize that we're slowly heading for a crash, all because these AAA companies are pursuing ridiculous sales figures that they can't hope to obtain and overall aren't worth the effort to get even if they do.

Game industry is not exclusive. we have corporations closing, laying off employees, merging. Its all part of business. Statistically 90% of all corpaotions fail within first 5 years. most of them due to people starting corporations when they should have been working in one instead, throwing hissy fits of "i cna do it on my own" and failing spectaculary. but there are legitimate failures. plenty.
The AAA industry is not keeping "Barely afloat". In fact, for companeis such as SONY it is the most profitable part of the business. Have you seen EAs, ubisofts, microsofts financial reports. go look at them. They get huge profits. Becuase people buy their games. who those people are, are not for me to judge. if they like the way these companies treat them, let them.
5 million salesi s considered a failure, but not a loss. you see, a failure is when the sales do not meet an expectation they desired, not when they dont come over the budget.
Make no mistake, AAA industry IS throwing with couple exceptions (THQ, SQuare Enix), and while certainly i wish they would experience some loss and would need to see how they can become better, they are nowhere near to death.
People on this site are extremely cynical when it comes to AAA games because most here are long time "hardcore" gamers, so they saw a lot of it and have accumulated baggage of negativity over the years. which is not to say that its unjust, just does not reflect the average consumer, who is still going to buy Xbone and keep it always online.

There will be no gaming industry crash. the industry is too diversified for that. period.

 

[geizr]

There is a lot of piling-on that has been levied against the AAA studios and publishers. However, one thing strikes me as always being odd. If the stuff is so bad, why does it continue to sell? Also, if these studios and publishers have been running in the red so long, losing money hand-over-fist, how have they continued to exist for so long? At some point I have to beg the question of our perception of reality. No matter how much we theory-craft about the way things ought to be and what will eventually happen, reality always remains the ground-truth against which we must assess our contemplations. If the AAA industry is as bad as we constantly make it out to be, why does it persist to exist?

The AAA game industry continues to exist because it's hanging on by a thread. Studios are constantly closing, laying off their employees, and selling off their studios to other AAA companies, all the while using their names to sell half-assed games to blind fanboys, On Disc DLC, DRM, and other underhanded tricks to sell enough keep themselves just barely afloat. 5 million sales of a game is STILL considered a loss in the AAA industry, when only a decade ago even getting half a million would be considered a smashing success. Regardless, surviving isn't anywhere close to thriving, the practices across this industry are slowly suffocating it to death. The people here are painting AAA gaming as really bad and unacceptable because these practices are not only terrible for the consumer, they're terrible for the health video game industry at large. We are complaining as much as we are because we all can see the writing on the wall and realize that we're slowly heading for a crash, all because these AAA companies are pursuing ridiculous sales figures that they can't hope to obtain and overall aren't worth the effort to get even if they do.

And, yet, the AAA industry continues to persist even after all these years. Yes, a number of studios have closed their doors; however, recall that I spoke of both studios AND publishers as separate entities. It seems to me that if the situation were as dire for these companies as we like to believe, then even with all the buyouts and mergers, eventually the whole thing MUST collapse because there are no profits ever being made. Now, I will give that the point of collapse may not have yet been reached, which is why I threw in the "2-3 years" statement. But, I don't think any company or industry can at all survive if there is no profit occurring at all. It seems to me that if the situation for the AAA game segment were as bad as we often paint it, then that segment should be suffering a noticeable shrinkage over time. But, from the sounds of things, it's not. In fact, it always seems to me that the sells of AAA games keeps growing; the number of sells keeps going up, not down. Something has to be wrong with our perception of the state and health of the AAA market, because, in my opinion, reality is always correct.

I'll admit, I don't have any hard numbers in front of me to back-up some of my assertions here, but it has been my impression that the AAA game segment is doing quite well, despite all the complaints and issues that we "few" have with it, as well as our prognostications of its future. For me, it's just that at some point I'm forced to question the thinking, because it just doesn't seem to be making sense with reality.

ADDENDUM: To me, our predictions of the death, collapse, or crash of the AAA gaming segment are starting to sounds like the predictions of the death, collapse, or crash of Microsoft or Apple..."Yeah, they've kept going for 10+ years, but any day now...just you wait!".

 

[WarpZone]

Are Bioshock Infinite, Dishonored, and The Evil Within really fair comparisons? I was under the impression those games were all three big-budget AAA blockbuster titles. If they merely made "some money," wouldn't that translate into a net loss?

The Dark Descent, sure. I can count the wall textures. That's achievable on a low budget. But Dishonored? Really? Are we even talking about the same beast, here?

*Scarecrow introduces the ending of the video* It's gonna be dicks, isn't it? *watches ending*

*squits at jewelcase* CANT? GET? JOKE?

I think that's the ALIEN logo? Hang on?

*final bathroom scene*

OH! Vertical Slice! I get it!

As an aside: I loved the shitty fuzzy green camera work in the bathroom. Yes, I realize you probably just set up your lowest megapixel digital camera on a tripod and mashed record. Doesn't matter. It's still beautifully ugly in that way good horror is, and it lets the details of Jim's condition gradually sink in.

 

[Failsafe Operator]

That last segment of the video went on way too long

 

[actelon]

Jim seems so angry these days, then I watch the Now Bloody Playing and he seems more at peace.

 

[FilmDude89]

My mum is a huge Chris DeBurgh fan.. so I instantly recognized the music playing in the background at the end of the Video. I like some of his music as well, to be honest.
I have to wonder if Jim used that music because he is also a fan or because Chris's music is often pretty shitty that it just fit with Jim's sensibilities. (no offence intended!)
Anyways, great video again, Jim.. I agree wholeheartedly.

 

[FilmDude89]

So Jims just gonna keep pretending The Last Of Us didn't come out?

What game is that?

Oh right, the game I gave a 10/10 review score to.

And yet you never ever mention it when you discuss modern survival horror. You continue to say that all AAA horror has become a homogenous bunch of crap akin to Resident Evil 6, ignoring that one of the best examples of a horror game ever made came out this year.

But is the Last of Us actually a horror game though? I've only heard of it being described as more of a stealth game.. with mushroom men.
I should really find a way to play it I think.

 

[TheUnbeholden]

I remember that Jim briefly touched upon how horror games in the triple A industry lost their touch, its nice to see him touch the other side of the coin in indie game market and the inherent fuckupness of the triple A industry. People love horror movies because people like getting scared every once and awhile. Its the same with video games. Except rather than JUST getting scared, you are using your wit to outsmart the bad guys, or horrors that are after you. The fact that triple A games have the same bloody mindset for horror as they do for action games, ie point gun and shoot until its pixels fall apart, is rather pathetic.
Good horror games are hard to make and the triple A industry is fine with giving us the same bullshit that they managed to get right with first person shooters.

 

[VoidOfOne]

I've never been a fan of horror, and never will. But I am a fan of the Jimquisition, and from the looks of things, will continue to be so. Even though this subject addresses this particular genre, since obviously Jim's a passionate fan of, I can also see this applied to other genres of the like. So while I don't really care if there are good or bad survival horror games (since I won't be playing them), I can definitely understand the frustration of many people who buy horror games and feel very disappointed with the results. It happens quite a bit with RPG's.

The closest I got to horror games would be Resident Evil 3, by the way.

 

[attackshark]

i deserve an award for watching the entirety of that last bit.

 

[carpathic]

It might appear a bit more... professional if Jim would start using other examples for a similar point, instead of always coming back to his own personal obsession of horror games.

There are really a shitload of genres, styles, and themes that the Industry left in the dirt, and that are picking themselves up only in the past years of growing indie publishing. Horror isn't even the most extremely ignored one.

I would point out this site's propensity to make fun of the "Simulator" game series as a perfect example of your sentiment. Lots of people love those games, but many authors on this site make fun of them as being "boring" likely because there are no fireballs or machine guns involved.

You make a good point is what I am trying to say.

 

[Perspicacity]

Anyone else think it's ironic that the big name developers are trying to "murder" the survival horror genera?

 

[Arppis]

You know survival horror doesn't need to leave you helpless, I wish the Resident Evil series for example would just cut back the ammo it gives, make it less about action and number of enemies. Co-op is good, but it needs to be used in different matter, than just two of you blasting your way trough rooms.

But yeah, I really hope they tone it down with Resident Evil. Because I'm sure they'll make more RE games.

 

[WarpZone]

So Jims just gonna keep pretending The Last Of Us didn't come out?

What game is that?

Oh right, the game I gave a 10/10 review score to.

And yet you never ever mention it when you discuss modern survival horror. You continue to say that all AAA horror has become a homogenous bunch of crap akin to Resident Evil 6, ignoring that one of the best examples of a horror game ever made came out this year.

But is the Last of Us actually a horror game though? I've only heard of it being described as more of a stealth game.. with mushroom men.
I should really find a way to play it I think.

The Worst of Us is a linear stealth/action game with a few zombie tropes thrown in to justify an overwrought and depressing narrative about Bad Dads Who Think They're Good Dads. It can basically be seen as a "Spec Ops: The Line" style deconstruction of Telltale's The Walking Dead games.

The gameplay is about stealthing around large city environments in one long mercifully painless escort mission, and carefully gunning your way through thousands of looters who are too dumb to live and keep rushing the position of the guy who they just saw single-handedly murder 50 dudes.

It's more zombie than Half-Life 2, not as zombie as Dead Space.

Neither the story nor the gameplay are anything like Silent Hill, The Dark Descent, or any of the other games we think of when we think of "horror." It's an action game with horror trappings. Contrast with Outlast, a legitimate horror game with big dumb action game trappings.

 

[Lightknight]

So Jims just gonna keep pretending The Last Of Us didn't come out?

What game is that?

Oh right, the game I gave a 10/10 review score to.

Jim really should carry a bag of mics with him anywhere he goes. That should relieve the back pain in picking them up after dropping them so many times.

 

[Thanatos2k]

I think the real problem AAA publishers have with horror games is the good ones aren't reproducible. Resident Evil got away with it only a couple times in the beginning when we didn't know what was going on, but you cannot just remake the same game, slap a number on the end of it, and sell more copies than the previous one. Horror games need to keep evolving and be different to keep the audience guessing, as there's nothing scary about predictability. So you need people who know what they're doing making each one, and time for them to tune everything properly.

"No sequels? No deal!" is the name of the game in AAA publisher town these days.


As an aside, people talk a lot about Silent Hill and other old horror games as good examples, but no one ever mentions Clock Tower. That game seriously messed me up.

 

[dochmbi]

At the start of the video I thought my laptop is bluescreening again, that's the noise it makes when it crashes while playing some audio.