I don't really have an opinion of social gaming (except for the fact that I hate Farmville) but I stopped listening to anything Dyack says after he confirmed there would be a Too Human 2.
Too Human Dev Predicts Social Gaming Crash
- Thread starter Logan Westbrook
- Start date
Yeah and when they first introduced sound into movies that head producer asked why anyone would ever want to hear the actors. Just cause you say it will die with the popularity doesn't mean anything.
So, what is his problem with "social games"? That they don't cost anything to play, or that they market products in the game? I'm sorry, why are they more likely to crash than anything else?
Everyone wants to rag on the guy for his pedigree, but he's just applying basic business logic. A crash is very likely any time a new and unproven market grows too quickly. A lot of investors have sunk disgusting amounts of capital into social game publishers, and there's no guarantee any of them will duplicate the success of Farmville. In fact, like our Silicon Knights friend here, I'd bet a substantial amount of money against it.
Speculative investment is the absolute scourge of the modern world, by the by. We use to have laws that prevented it from going haywire, but most governments are firmly in the hands of big business at this point.
Speculative investment is the absolute scourge of the modern world, by the by. We use to have laws that prevented it from going haywire, but most governments are firmly in the hands of big business at this point.
Actually, Too Human is the exception. And predicting the crash of an emerging industry that exploded before anyone has a solid grasp on the total profit pool isn't exactly rocket surgery.
I see where he's coming from this, but I don't think it will be a "death" as much as a decline. What does sadden me a bit is that people are dwelling on dull facebook games rather than moving into better free games. Try some free MMOs like Mabinogi or LOTRO or Vindictus or something. Or even browser games like Kingdom of Loathing, eRepublik or (dare I say it, for the kids) Neopets.
Heck, a lot of flash games on newgrounds, kongregate etc. do a much better job of delivering fun, casual content than those games on FB. I figure eventually as people through the "social games" come to enjoy gaming more they will perhaps move away to alternatives once they learn more.
Heck, a lot of flash games on newgrounds, kongregate etc. do a much better job of delivering fun, casual content than those games on FB. I figure eventually as people through the "social games" come to enjoy gaming more they will perhaps move away to alternatives once they learn more.
The problem that's being pointed at here isn't the quality of the product; it's market saturation. The market isn't growing anywhere near as fast as the industry that's catering to it. The collapse won't be catastrophic (except for the companies involved) but it's likely to be like the MMO scene, with one or two rising from the rubble of their shattered competitors. I say this because much like an MMO, most social games act as a timesink that have to have exclusive claim to the user's free time if the user wants to be competitive.
What a lot of people here don't seem to understand is the market that social games are aimed at: these are not aimed at gamers. I don't know if any of you have had the misfortune to try to get a parent or adult non-gamer into video games; but the time it takes for them to grasp basic movement of an avatar in 3D space is AGONIZING. For these people, much like learning to paint or play a musical instrument, getting into the hobby represents a sizable investment of time with, to build on the analogy of music, little to show for their time spent apart from some displeasing sounds. The very things that we see in a 'good' game: outcome determined by player skill, etc. is an obstacle to these people. For the target market, social games are ideal.
What a lot of people here don't seem to understand is the market that social games are aimed at: these are not aimed at gamers. I don't know if any of you have had the misfortune to try to get a parent or adult non-gamer into video games; but the time it takes for them to grasp basic movement of an avatar in 3D space is AGONIZING. For these people, much like learning to paint or play a musical instrument, getting into the hobby represents a sizable investment of time with, to build on the analogy of music, little to show for their time spent apart from some displeasing sounds. The very things that we see in a 'good' game: outcome determined by player skill, etc. is an obstacle to these people. For the target market, social games are ideal.
You got that right. Everyone in the industry is all about pridicting what will or won't happen without taking time to recognize what is good or bad today.captaincabbage said:
Can we really expect the maker of Too Human to have any idea what makes a good game? He probably think that games like COD and Mass Effect are made by magical fairies. As long as he doesn't make any more games he won't get criticised, which is fine, but maybe he should bepaying attention to his genre of video games if he plans to ever live in the real world.