Poll: Is the gaming industry deterioating?

[Stormz]

Gamewise? No. But Companies are getting greedier and greedier. Day one DLC a long with always online DRM, Project 10$, Cloud gaming. All of these are what makes me mad because all of these are just ways to nickle and dime us or take away control from the products we purchase. Whats sad is people don't care about this and it's quickly becoming the norm. That's why I think the game industry is fucked, at least for people like me that don't like wasting money and being ass raped by these huge corporations.

 

[ComradeJim270]

Thanks for the encouragement but my main problem is I have no real knowledge of the workings or requirements of pcs. I doubt I'd be able to work my way around a lot of things. I would love to get in on it however. What you're saying about marketing and searching makes sense but isn't it kind of a bad sign that it's the mediocre games that get all the attention; and not for being mediocre.

Well, there's a lot of things I don't know about PCs, but if I'm having trouble with my PC, there are lots of people who do know those things and are willing to help those who don't. You don't need to understand how everything works. I'm not going to lie and say it's as user-friendly as console gaming, but it's certainly not rocket science either.

As for the thing about mediocrity, it's just an indication that game companies have gotten better at marketing and have more money for it now. It's all a bunch of hot air, and it's not going to stop others from making good games, nor can it turn a bad game into a good one.

Basically, what I'm saying is that the perception that games (or movies, or music, or books, or whatever) are declining in quality is just that: a perception. This is not actually occurring. But with games in particular, the fact that the gaming industry has grown as much as it has in as little time as it has makes everything seem like a bigger deal than it actually is. The release of Dark and Gritty Military Shooter 4 orExtra-Explodey Sci-Fi Shooter 3 may seem like a huge deal when it happens, but a few months later, most people have moved on to the next big thing. The whole time, other people are so hard at work on great and innovative games that they've barely paid attention to the whole thing, and those are the people to be watched. Those are the people who make sure that no matter how many mediocre and derivative games are shat out by other companies, good games will continue to be made, too.

 

[Fox242]

Why is it so popular to declare the end of gaming? All you mention is that games like Call of Duty and Battlefield are putting gaming on a "downward slide", without any actual argument to support these claims im going to assume you just read some comment or article about how gaming "stagnating" and are just blindly copying the writers opinion to make yourself appear smart.

And no Gaming is not deteriorating, Its as good, and in many ways better than its ever been

I never said that I agree with that sentiment. It's just that alot of people are saying that the extreme popularity of Call of Duty and Battlefield are bad for the industry. I happen to own and paly both of the latest versions in both series and I love to play them (CoD especially). I couldn't disagree more with the whole "stagnation" arguement. Those franchises are good for the gaming industry. I just wanted to see what other people think on this site.

Oh, well sorry for the snappiness then, im just sick of all these naysayers. I probably should have read the OP more carefully, once again sorry

It's all good. It happens. I guess I should have made my own position a little more clear in the first post.

 

[Twilight_guy]

I don't think that's true. The popular games published by a small subsection of the games industry will not kill the entire industry. That's like saying McDonald's is killing the food industry. I think the industry is more complex then what the simple notion of "repetition is bad" soundbite spewers are proposing.

 

[Aprilgold]

Yea, I think it's deteriorating but not because of Battlefield or MW3.
The problem is that the console market has been pretty crappy and hasn't been selling nearly as well as it was last generation when it should be selling a lot more. Because of that AAA games haven't been selling nearly as well, except for those old franchises that keep picking up more and more fans.
Console gaming used to be an easy alternative as PC gaming but in this generation it's become more of a pain in the ass. It used to be that you just had to worry about patching, punching in codes, and what hardware you have when you were a pc gamer but now console gamers are being asked to deal with it and there are a lot of ps2 owners who decided that they just can't be bothered. As someone who has tried to make the best out of being a ps3 owner, I can't blame them.
Even the kids in my family who used to want games for Christmas, now want other things.
Of course the industry would much rather put the blame on used game purchasers so I don't see an upturn coming any time soon.

I agree with this. Is it alright if I rub it in? I'll do it anyway. HA HA, PC'S GOT IT SLIGHTLY BETTER!

It isn't detoriating in sales, its just deteriorating in quality. However even I hesitate to say that this is the case, with so many indie games that are unique selling well I say that gaming is better then ever.

 

[mrF00bar]

It is certainly in trouble and I think it will crash soon but its not dead/dieing. Not yet anyway.

 

[4RM3D]

But once you learn to turn away from major publishers then it's not that hard..

I've put more hours into terraria and dungeon defenders than i have with all of my major game titles combined

Damn you Terraria, stop devouring my social life! But yeah, best spent 5 bucks ever. Not only are indie games cheaper, most of them are actually better than triple A games that took years to make and costing enough money to buy a small country.

 

[veloper]

It's more a case of game companies doing a fairly good job of squeezing money from potential customers and the gaming audience becoming worse over time.

There is some valid criticism against publishers that are cutting themselves in the foot by trying to compete with too similar products in an oversaturated FPS market, while neglecting smaller but considerable audiences, but for the most part they invest in projects that are the most likely to sell.
When trash sells, the fool is the buyer.

 

[Savber]

I'm getting tired of people declaring the decline of the gaming industry just because of TWO FREAKING GAMES (Battlefield 3 and MW3). Seriously, out of the plethora of great games from Dark Souls to The Witcher to Deus Ex: HR to Arkham City, why oh WHY are we always acting like the two shooter franchises are THE definition of ALL gaming?

That's just kinda pushing it.

 

[Triangulon]

I think the industry as a whole is fine. Great even. There may be more, in my opinion, poor quality mainstream games (eg. MW3, Battlefield 3, DNF etc etc), however it seems like the indie scene is only getting stronger. PC Gaming hasn't deteriorated at all like many though it would last year and I think that things are looking pretty good in general for the industry.

This is absolutely correct. Change is not necessarily bad.

Its not dying, it's changing. The Indie market is exploding, and the AAA system, while still profitable, is nowhere near what it was a few years ago.

 

[Brighton_Game_Trader]

I'd say that the gaming industry it is getting better overall.

However, as an industry gains in popularity and sales go up, you will get a lot more rubbish being produced along with the great stuff.

Basically, you will have game developers (in exactly the same way you have film-makers and musicians) who make media to appeal to the most people - the masses - to make the most money.

Examples of this are everywhere - one particular painful example of this is film tie-in games. Generally released as an afterthought while a film is being made, there are very few examples of games made for films that actually worked well as games. These games will have sold a lot more than other, better games, however, since the idea appeals to more people.

I would say that with platforms now available like the iPhone/Pad games store, Playstation Network, Xbox live, Steam and other popular on-line stores to purchase games, it is much easier for independent developers to get their games to a wider audience - which can have a lot more time, care and effort put in than a big-studio title. This is good news, and means that gamers have easy access to a whole wealth of games that would before have been obscure and difficult to distribute.

So in opinion, things are changing for the better and we're just going to have to accept that the games industry is going to have some crap in amongst all the gems.

 

[Maveroid]

The gaming industry is not deteriorating in my opinion, its just going in a new direction... 'New' when compared to everything until the Playstation 2 came out.

I might not enjoy as many games now as I did in the past, but thats my personal preference. The gaming industry is at its peak financially as far as I know and that can be largely (if not solely) attributed to Call of Duty's success..

 

[krazykidd]

No, it's not. Games are selling more then ever, and while their maybe many Military FPSs there is also many other types of games that are thriving.

Depends what you consider deterorate . Quality or quantity? Sure military fps sell a lot but most of it is recyxled stuff , no other genre can get away with that.

This past year has been one of my favourites in ages as a PC gamer with so many high-quality releases that for a poor schmuck like me it's just impossible to keep up, even with STEAM and other digital distributors being merciful and tossing sales and such my way.

Nah, don't pay attention to the hearsay. Everyone always says things are getting worse and seemingly 99% of the time it's just nostalgia. Call of Duty is hardly the first game series to become a popular phenomenon and milk it for all its worth after all, these things come and go all the time.

Nostalgia argument is kinda weird . Weird in the sense , that according to you life long gamers are blinding by nostalgia thus they think everything is going to hell , but new gamers ( new here is reletive ) think they are awsome . Now who has more credibility? The gamer who has been player ganes for 20 years? Or the gamer who has been playing games since this gen? Hmmm

OT: personally , and i talk only for myself, Less and less games interest me as time goes on, does that mean that the industry is deteriorating? Not exacly , just thst they moved past what i prefer in my games . It's just my taste that has not evolved with games. Thus i buy less games that i have in the past . I do have 30 some games on my xbox 360 , but that compared to the 100 games i have on the ps2 , the 100 games i have on the ps1 , the 60 games i have on the snes and so on and so forth , it is just a few. Since i only buy games that really interest me , apparently not that many games this gen pique my interest .

Also i don't feel the need to replay any of my xbox360 games, save 3 or 4 , compared to games i have on previous generations that i replay quite often. Anyways thats just me.

 

[Signa]

Wow, the responses on these last 2 pages are impressing me. I asked this about 2 years ago, and everyone called me an idiot.

Granted "Falling apart," "deteriorating," and "Dying" are all alarmist terminologies, but it's something I've seen on the horizon for a while now. It's just nice knowing the indie scene is bringing us things like Terraria, Bastion and Sanctum. Games certainly aren't dying if this is what we can look forward to.

 

[GonzoGamer]

Yea, I think it's deteriorating but not because of Battlefield or MW3.
The problem is that the console market has been pretty crappy and hasn't been selling nearly as well as it was last generation when it should be selling a lot more. Because of that AAA games haven't been selling nearly as well, except for those old franchises that keep picking up more and more fans.
Console gaming used to be an easy alternative as PC gaming but in this generation it's become more of a pain in the ass. It used to be that you just had to worry about patching, punching in codes, and what hardware you have when you were a pc gamer but now console gamers are being asked to deal with it and there are a lot of ps2 owners who decided that they just can't be bothered. As someone who has tried to make the best out of being a ps3 owner, I can't blame them.
Even the kids in my family who used to want games for Christmas, now want other things.
Of course the industry would much rather put the blame on used game purchasers so I don't see an upturn coming any time soon.

I agree with this. Is it alright if I rub it in? I'll do it anyway. HA HA, PC'S GOT IT SLIGHTLY BETTER!

It isn't detoriating in sales, its just deteriorating in quality. However even I hesitate to say that this is the case, with so many indie games that are unique selling well I say that gaming is better then ever.

Feel free to rub it in. It's the reason I've been gaming more on the PC lately. If I'm going to go through a bunch of annoying bs, I may as well be able to install mods and tweak the game settings.

Consoles seem to just be taking all the annoying parts of pc gaming without any of the benefits. And really there's no reason for it. Sales for consoles has definitely deteriorated since last generation and that could be a reason.

You're right about the indie games though. They seem to be doing well with a mix of affordability, charm, and the territory marking preferences of hipster culture: "What, you've never heard of Hot Dog Trucking the game?" I like those big AAA games but if they can't expand the market for them, we'll probably see a lot fewer. But considering that more than half of them are crap anyway, this could be a good thing.

 

[JohnDoey]

No the industry isn't deteriorating and quality isn't falling either, whenever someone claims games have gotten worse they seem to be thinking of some non-existent period of time when every game was either fallout or planescape:torment level of quality.I think games have gotten better at least now even if a games crappy it's actually playable and beatable.

 

[TheDooD]

Yes, because the industry at the higher levels are extremely scared to take risks or have serious quality control which will turn off some players. Plus seeing versions of the same game getting released every year is like eating meatloaf every week it's ok for the first month, yet after that you don't want to see the shit again. Well unless you really like meatloaf.

No, because its growing in different ways. PC has ALOT of access to different games most that were on consoles or arcade cabinets at a point in time. Some of these games never reached the US/EU, They're now being translated unto English and other languages as we speak.

Yes, because of the greed of a few AAA companies are pretty much spoiling the broth for others. It's all well and good to make money. Yet don't short change people who're still paying alot of money for a game that should be 50% or less of the current price. They should be focusing on the replay value outside of a cheap multiplayer aspect. Now gamers see MP as a cheap way to really keep players playing when they should have focused on making the game in itself something worth coming back to. then pretty much making games an $60 investment that's beaten in a afternoon and pretty much returned to Gamestop the next day. Is a pretty bad choice in quality control. Then said AAA companies get mad that they're own games aren't staying in people's houses yet when it's their own fault for not spending a bit of all that money they have for some legit quality control. To prevent their game from ending up being a majority in the bargain bin.

No, because now gamers are starting to get into creating games they experienced what they find wrong in games and are gonna try to fix it to appeal to other gamers instead of the cop-out in my opinion of mass market appeal. With taking what they know they're trying to convey what they loved in gaming and trying to get people to understand that. Gamers that are starting to get into development are gonna change, or at lease try to change the mistakes the fatcats are currently doing industry.

No and Yes at the same time. Gaming is massive yet because of said mass more people are able to have access to gaming through consoles, mobile, and PC's. The bad thing of said mass is that generations are moving too fast at the moment and quality games are pretty much lost to those that missed out.

 

[michael87cn]

I voted no.

It's already deteriorated in my opinion.

Started with Halo and the first Call of Duty... then people just stopped making good PC FPS games, well 'cept Half-Life1/2, those are great.

We've also had a distinct lack of good RTS. I played some StarCraft 1 today and find myself blaming the graphic-whoredom for costing too much and taking too much work to make new games.

 

[Skops]

Alright so we aren't seeing things like E-SWAT and Lost Vikings anymore, but regardless. The Games industry is bigger than the Movie industry right now, and you think we're on a downward spiral?!

 

[ComradeJim270]

Nostalgia argument is kinda weird . Weird in the sense , that according to you life long gamers are blinding by nostalgia thus they think everything is going to hell , but new gamers ( new here is reletive ) think they are awsome . Now who has more credibility? The gamer who has been player ganes for 20 years? Or the gamer who has been playing games since this gen? Hmmm

It's not really a matter of credibility. What happens is that people remember good games they've played in the past, because... well, because they were good. But bad games we've played? Unless they're truly horrendous, we tend to forget about them. This creates the illusion that more bad games are being released now than there used to be.

I voted no.

It's already deteriorated in my opinion.

Started with Halo and the first Call of Duty... then people just stopped making good PC FPS games, well 'cept Half-Life1/2, those are great.

We've also had a distinct lack of good RTS. I played some StarCraft 1 today and find myself blaming the graphic-whoredom for costing too much and taking too much work to make new games.

People are still making those games, but you have to look for them.