The Gaming Industry Needs To Die For It's Own Good.

[Xanthious]

The title pretty much sums up my feelings on this matter but I will explain in detail.

Look at the gaming industry. It is a cesspool pure and simple. Look at everything that is currently wrong with it. Big publishers are all about getting as much of our money as they can while offering us less and less product and less and less control over the product they are selling us. Honest paying customers are treated like thieves and worse by the companies they support with their hard earned money. The bottom line is that the industry is far too polluted and corrupted to be saved at this point and must be destroyed (or close to it) before it can ever hope to be something remotely palatable again.

Go back ten years. You didn't have to worry about certain features of your game like multiplayer being held hostage from you for the sin of buying used title. You didn't have to worry about the number of times you dared to install a game you legally bought and paid for. You weren't required to play your games constantly tethered to the company that sold them to you. You didn't have to worry that you were only getting part of the game because the rest was being held back to be sold to you as DLC at a later point in time. In short you were treated like a proper customer and not some sheep to be fleeced as the publishers and developers saw fit.

The bottom line is that the tree that is the gaming industry is too far gone with rot and disease to be saved. If we ever hope to turn things around then the industry in it's current form needs to first die a horrible and violent death. Cancers to the industry like EA and Activision need to be gutted like a fish and the the scum that are in charge like Bobby Kotick and John Riccitiello need to be properly driven out of the gaming industry with torches and pitchforks if need be. Only after everything is blown away to Hell and back can gaming get back to it's roots where people who care about gaming are the ones making the decisions again because they will be the ones to rebuild.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

No it doesn't.

Games are still great. It's just douchebag corporations being corporations and consumers being consumers.

If people put up with it, they'll keep doing it. And if people keep putting up with it, then it's not as bad as it could be.

 

[Insane_Foxx]

you do realize that if the gaming industry were to die, then that would be it. No more games, ever. What your talking about, i think, is the gaming industry taking a sabatical. Stop for a while - ignor what this will do to the programmers, and developer's lives and families. Sorry, don't support you on the "no new games" front. While i do wish certain companies would either die, or make massive changes (the 2 you identified actually) i don't want the industry as a whole to vanish. Which, by the way, is what death would mean.

 

[andreas3K]

How would that help? Shouldn't we try to save the industry and guide it in the right direction? And how exactly are you planning to kill the industry?

 

[Mad1Cow]

Wait...the gaming industry isn't salvagable? I'm sorry, I'm calling BS.

What we need is a turning point, not a deathbed. Take film (I use this argument WAY too much). In the 40's-50's cinema was getting blander and blander and no-one was doing anything about it. Then suddenly a bunch of French film critics got off their backsides and decided to do something about it. They got out of the stale, set-up rooms that film lived in and took to the streets, testing montages and crazy colaborations and these films sold great. Suddenly producers didn't know what was up or down and decided to hire a bunch of these guys, queue great films like, I dunno, STAR WARS.

That's what we need. we're about to approach that sector. I wouldn't say we're quite 40's-50's, we're more 30's because we're still discovering things, but when the industry get's TRULY stale, people will stop taking an interest and indie developers will come along saving the day, get hired and then for the next few decades keep remaking and changing their great works of art until once again, they'll get kicked out.

The main problem is we're too comfy in society. We need SOMETHING like the 60's again only not the 60's.

 

[Nebraskaslim]

You obviously don't remember that far back do you? Legally speaking you weren't allowed to install games on multiple computers there just wasn't anything the companys could do about it. And yes we did have to worry about getting partial games you remember Kotor 2? At least now with dlc if a game gets put out the door incomplete there is some hope that it'll be finished some day. Do some things need to be changed? Yes but not as drastically as your making out, things are not that different now than they were ten years ago in regard to customer/company relations wise.

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

The gaming industry is like any industry before it, yes there are people out there who are in it just to get paid but there are many more that want to provide a rewarding experience to those that choose to play their titles. For your argument about holding back multiplayer, the points against it are understandable. A developer/publisher does not make any profit from used game sales, making you pay for an online code is only their way of ensuring that they get at least some money for their work. And if people are only willing to pay a fraction of the game's worth, those people should only get a fraction of that game's content. Maybe you just haven't played any games that are worthwhile, maybe you've made some bad spending choices, or maybe you're just looking for something to complain about. I've been buying and playing games my whole life and has only improved since I first picked up a controller. Now with online markets like the PSN or XBL, games can become even better with time. DLC's aren't pushed out just so developers can make money off of content they choose to hold back (well maybe some), but their intended purpose is add something more to those that want something new in a game they've enjoyed playing. They give developers the chance to release content they previously weren't able to for whatever reason. Hell, it allows updates so people can patch a game that has a few bugs that couldn't be previously fixed. I know there are games that rely on patches in order to even be considered functional, but fortunately there aren't many of them. As for publishers like Activision and EA, sure they've made many questionable decisions but they're big businesses. You can't really blame them for making decisions that they would profit from. The 'tree' that is the gaming industry is growing, and we must accept that growth and move along with it.

 

[Timbydude]

Sooo, you make one point about parts of games being held back as DLC, and then conclude from that that the whole industry needs to die?

I can't say I follow. Personally, I love the current DLC trend. If I don't want to pay the total price for the game + the DLC, I won't buy the game. For games I like, it greatly enhances the experience.

One personal gripe you have doesn't necessitate the collapse of the industry.

 

[Aeonknight]

The gaming industry is like any industry before it, yes there are people out there who are in it just to get paid but there are many more that want to provide a rewarding experience to those that choose to play their titles. For your argument about holding back multiplayer, the points against it are understandable. A developer/publisher does not make any profit from used game sales, making you pay for an online code is only their way of ensuring that they get at least some money for their work. And if people are only willing to pay a fraction of the game's worth, those people should only get a fraction of that game's content. Maybe you just haven't played any games that are worthwhile, maybe you've made some bad spending choices, or maybe you're just looking for something to complain about. I've been buying and playing games my whole life and has only improved since I first picked up a controller. Now with online markets like the PSN or XBL, games can become even better with time. DLC's aren't pushed out just so developers can make money off of content they choose to hold back (well maybe some), but their intended purpose is add something more to those that want something new in a game they've enjoyed playing. They give developers the chance to release content they previously weren't able to for whatever reason. Hell, it allows updates so people can patch a game that has a few bugs that couldn't be previously fixed. I know there are games that rely on patches in order to even be considered functional, but fortunately there aren't many of them. As for publishers like Activision and EA, sure they've made many questionable decisions but they're big businesses. You can't really blame them for making decisions that they would profit from. The 'tree' that is the gaming industry is growing, and we must accept that growth and move along with it.

My thoughts on this are exactly what this block of words says.

I hardly think EA or Activision's way of doing business means the industry has failed wholesale and it's time to go back to the stone age AGAIN. They are there to make money. They do what they can to protect their investment. The bullshit from them is no greater than the legal bullshit you deal with from any TV or internet provider.

to the OP: This is capitolism. It permeates every industry. Get over it.

 

[theonecookie]

You know people have been saying that gaming is ruined ever since it started hell people complained when gaming moved off dos for fucks sake maybe the industry has growing pains as of right now but gaming bigger than ever and is almost a socially acceptable past time why would you want to kill it now this is not the phoenix it's a multimillion dollar industry that supports thousands of jobs and is loved by million so yeah kill it off i wont be there to save you from the thousands of people that want to rip your guts out when your done

 

[TheLastTatlFan]

I wouldn't call it a death, but a good ol' fashioned crash could be just what the industry needs right now. What we need to do is chase off the big corporations who only produce games because they heard about how much money they can makes, who sink more and more money and veto more and more new ideas for the sake of ensuring returns on their investments.

If the mainstream games industry loses enough profitability that only the people who like games for being games, rather than money magnets, are left, then we'll probably see the end of the uniform $60 price tag, the endless paint-by-numbers level clones of each other and entire segments of games being held hostage for additional costs.

 

[viranimus]

The problem is not the gaming industry, the problem is that the condition of the gaming industry mirrors the condition of world wide economic affairs. Organizations making entirely too much money are using that money to further perpetuate and expand their ability to make money.

This is accomplished by diminishing the quality of products, the quality for the people who make the products, legislative means that allow the bypass of standards and regulations as well as ignorance driven public support predominantly via effective marketing.

Until the economic climate of all economic station changes, you cannot expect changes in an isolated portion of that climate.

 

[andreas3K]

How would that help? Shouldn't we try to save the industry and guide it in the right direction? And how exactly are you planning to kill the industry?

Look up. The industry is already circling the drain as we speak.

No it isn't. It's still making money.

 

[andreas3K]

How would that help? Shouldn't we try to save the industry and guide it in the right direction? And how exactly are you planning to kill the industry?

Look up. The industry is already circling the drain as we speak.

No it isn't. It's still making money.

making money doesn't constitute health. There are many factors that constitute health. If you want I could bring the article where I outline all the factors. No one was able to refute it.

Yeah, it may not be healthy, but as long as it's making money, it ain't gonna die either. Go ahead and show me that article, I'm interested.

 

[Sir Rammington Steel]

I was going to say something witty and sarcastic, but I think I'll just cut to the heart of things instead. No the game industry does not need to die for its own good. It could use some fresh air and maybe try to give a little more in the give and take relationship with the consumer, but death is not the answer it pretty much never is. I could be mistaken but most of your problem seems to be with the big players in the industry. Well surprise large companies like to make money that allows them to stay afloat. If the gaming industry died I for one would be very upset. I love video games and still do and I don't see how it just going away for a while would solve any problems. As a matter of fact it would create many for any number of workers out there. In summation it would be wonderful if the game industry was full of people who simply loved the medium and wanted to do everything they could do to make it great, but that's just not the way any industry let alone the world works. Welcome to capitalism where you leave your ideals at the door and let your money do the talking.

 

[Shirokurou]

The title pretty much sums up my feelings on this matter but I will explain in detail.

Look at the gaming industry. It is a cesspool pure and simple. Look at everything that is currently wrong with it. Big publishers are all about getting as much of our money as they can while offering us less and less product and less and less control over the product they are selling us. Honest paying customers are treated like thieves and worse by the companies they support with their hard earned money. The bottom line is that the industry is far too polluted and corrupted to be saved at this point and must be destroyed (or close to it) before it can ever hope to be something remotely palatable again.

Go back ten years. You didn't have to worry about certain features of your game like multiplayer being held hostage from you for the sin of buying used title. You didn't have to worry about the number of times you dared to install a game you legally bought and paid for. You weren't required to play your games constantly tethered to the company that sold them to you. You didn't have to worry that you were only getting part of the game because the rest was being held back to be sold to you as DLC at a later point in time. In short you were treated like a proper customer and not some sheep to be fleeced as the publishers and developers saw fit.

The bottom line is that the tree that is the gaming industry is too far gone with rot and disease to be saved. If we ever hope to turn things around then the industry in it's current form needs to first die a horrible and violent death. Cancers to the industry like EA and Activision need to be gutted like a fish and the the scum that are in charge like Bobby Kotick and John Riccitiello need to be properly driven out of the gaming industry with torches and pitchforks if need be. Only after everything is blown away to Hell and back can gaming get back to it's roots where people who care about gaming are the ones making the decisions again because they will be the ones to rebuild.

Dude...
It's always been like this. New tricks for old causes. Now you just grew up to understand it.
It's not going anywhere.
Stop worrying and learn to love the bomb.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Well, a 1980s crash is inevitable. Consoles are so bloated they will collapse under their own weight. The finances behind consoles are so short sighted it makes the cause of the American economic crash look responsible. In order for gaming to move on, it needs to wipe its slate clean like it did last time.

Look at consoles now, they are practically on their deathbed. It wont be lack of games that kill them, but irresponsible business practices at the hands of Microsoft and Sony.

How so? Last I know, games (and consoles in particular) were making an utter killing?