FeedA Second Video Game Crash?
by Alex on Jan.28, 2009, under Consoles, Developers, Rant
Way back in 1983, the video game market was flooded with extremely low-quality games, rushed to the market in order to capitalize on the new video gaming fad. That, combined with a series of very poor business decisions resulted in what is commonly known as the North American Video Game crash.
Fast-forward to 2009. I’m afraid that we may be facing the same situation. Take a look at the most popular console on the market now:
Don’t just assume that I’m some Wii-hating Microsoft/Sony fanboy. In fact, the Wii was the first current-gen console that I bought. I was eagerly anticipating games like Smash Bros Brawl (whose online gameplay is beyond horrible), Project H.A.M.M.E.R. (which never materialized), No More Heroes (which was good, yet repetitive), and…uh, well that’s about it. Overall, since the Wii came out, I can honestly say that I’ve only enjoyed six of the available titles (that would be Brawl, Trauma Center 1&2, No More Heroes, Geometry Wars: Galaxies, and Resident Evil 4). See anything odd about that list? All but two are ports.
Maybe I’m just being cynical, but I can definitely see a worrying trend present in 90% of the games released this generation. They all seem to be too short, too buggy, overhyped, and generally crap (BUT AT LEAST THEY HAVE PRETTY GRAPHICS AM I RIGHT?). And that’s just the “good games”, I’m not even talking about the piles of “casual, family-friendly” shovelware like the entire Petz series, games based on TV shows and movies, and anything produced by EA in recent memory.
That brings me to another point: Developers. Remember when developers would experiment with new titles instead of just releasing the same game over and over again? I used to be Capcom’s biggest fan. I loved the Megaman Series, and I thought Legends and Legends 2 were excellent additions to the franchise. Whoever was in charge of Capcom back then, bravo, I salute you. It was mind boggling – A Megaman game with a plot, some halfway decent voice acting, and, *gasp*, storyline continuity! I guess trying new things was just too costly, though, so we haven’t seen a new Legends title in nearly 9 years (poor guy is still stuck on that space station), and every Megaman game since then has been a carbon copy of the previous one with some extra shiny bits tacked on. While everybody else seems to praise Megaman 9, I can’t help but be worried. Yeah, I get that retro is neat. Retro is also extremely cheap to produce, so if Capcom continues to follow the trend it set with Megaman 9, I doubt we’ll ever see anything new or interesting in the Megaman series again. Hell, they’re not even copying themselves anymore: Has anybody picked up Megaman Battle Network Diamond and Pearl yet?
Oh yeah, and of course Capcom axed the studio responsible for Viewtiful Joe, Okami, and God Hand, but I already went over how ‘new’ and ‘interesting’ goes against everything Capcom stands for.
It’s not just Capcom though. Konami has singlehandedly destroyed their previously-successful Bemani series, and I can’t see much hope for them now that Metal Gear Solid is over (I somehow doubt that Snake’s Crossbow Training for the iPhone will be any good). EA has been strangling the sports genre for years (not that I care about that too much), Square hasn’t done anything interesting in years, Blizzard has singlehandedly destroyed the MMO market by ensuring that its competitors only produce WoW clones, and on and on and on.
On top of that, there’s the worrying trend of developers only releasing the bare minimum of content in their games, then promising to fill in the gaps later with expensive DLC packs. Why buy a game once when you could buy it in pieces, over and over again? No problems there.
In short, I think we’re headed towards another game crash. It seems like developers no longer care about producing quality games, instead opting to release as much crap as possible in the shortest timeframe to ensure maximum profits.
Except for PC games, that is. They’re doing great.
January 28th, 2009 on 8:00 am
>Except for PC games, that is. They’re doing great.
Unfortunately, for the most part, true. Glad i finally built a good PC for all kinds of gamin’.
January 28th, 2009 on 10:59 am
Oh dear god. I have a fear for the worst after reading this. The thing is, profit is what people come into the market for. What they don’t know is that if you make a totally awesome game and release the WHOLE DAMN THING at once with all the bugs and shit worked out and wait to set a release date until you’ve got all the shit rolled out then your game will probably sell just as good or hell, maybe even better! I’m just glad I have a PC, like you said they’re still going pretty strong.
January 28th, 2009 on 11:42 am
>Except for PC games, that is. They’re doing great.
Only if you pirate.
January 28th, 2009 on 11:56 am
I don’t really think that we’re headed towards a second crash. While you are correct that a lot of the time companies rush games to the market, you also have to realize that right now the gaming industry is more profitable than it ever has been. The hardcore gamers may not be pleased with what’s going on right now, but from a financial standpoint this is kind of a golden era.
Also, there have always been problems with shovelware-to-quality games. Do you remember the NES? That was a wonderful system, but it was FULL of absolutely bottom-of-the-barrel games. The N64 and PSX are both great systems, but seriously, compare the good-game-to-bad-game ratio. Fucking Spec-Ops was KILLING everything is sales for a while. It’s always been a problem, the truly good games are always vastly out-numbered.
Also, it’s not like things are so bad these days. There are good games out there, just a lot of people don’t know about them. Last year saw to the release of one of the most fresh, innovative games in a long time: Valkyria Chronicles. This year the guy who BROUGHT you Joe and God Hand is bringing you ANOTHER game in Mad World, so bemoaning the loss of that studio appears to be a moot point.
In regards to the MMO market: Not at all the case. People will try to release WoW clones but you’ve also got games like FF XI (which was released first and is still alive) and EVE Online. Two games that are NOT like WoW. EA does NOT have a stranglehold on the sports market, 2K studios and Sony Computer Entertainment release sports games too.
Konami: Castlevania is still alive. Kojima is still kicking. And there’s this ability to create IPs. They have talent there. Bemani just was milked to death, they didn’t kill it.
I also hope you’ve played Megaman Legend since back in the glory days because, honestly, the game has aged horribly. The plot wasn’t that good (honestly, what you get in Megaman X is better and that’s not saying much) and I really, really hope you’re not serious about the quality voice acting.
There is nothing to worry about. Things tend to be like this. The best thing to do is to try different sorts of games because I assure you, the quality is out there. I think a big reason people are so down and dour about the console generation is because they remember “the glory days”. Sadly, most were young during the glory days and didn’t have the same way to see the industry as they do today.
In short. The game industry is fine, things aren’t that different, and there are plenty of quality games out there.
January 28th, 2009 on 1:12 pm
Oh, also, regarding Square Enix: They made TWEWY and FFTA 2 last year. They were both fairly good games. The last Final Fantasy they made was XII, and in my eyes, it was one of the best in the series. Saying that they haven’t done anything in years is pretty ridiculous.
January 28th, 2009 on 4:12 pm
Saying that Capcomi is “scared” to release sequels to games like okami and MML is one of the most ignorant things i’ve heard in a long time. Disregarding the fact that they were the ones that produced the damn games in the first place, you are overlooking one very important thing: The games didn’t sell. Capcom is a business, if they don’t sell popular games, they will never be able to produce those arty games you love so much but couldnt sell worth. As much as I loved MML and Okami, I don’t let my love for the games blind me to the fact that sequels to them would be complete blunders.
January 28th, 2009 on 9:50 pm
I agree and sort of disagree with you, Alex.
I’d say that we were DEFINITELY heading to a crash. With people of our age group getting older and the standard fare of shooting and gory adventure games being all that was pulling in new (younger) players the audience would’ve steadily degraded and burned out.
I think it’s Nintendo that, for a second time, has revitalized the game industry by bringing in new blood as opposed to having the industry trying to support it on a shrinking wave of “mature” younger games. Unfortunately current developers don’t understand this new audience and we’re stuck between “mature” games and casual shovelware.
While there are publishers who do push out rushed junk, we also get games for the X Box 360 and PS3 that put so much focus on visuals, our final gaming experience ends up being 50 or 60 bucks for a mere four or three hours. The alternatives to the buggy junk leave much to be desired.
So it’s possible, but I don’t think we’re done for yet. Wii has generated a lot of interest and when you consider it’s sold as many as it had, it seems sort of foolhardy to say we’re going to crash.
If developers for the Wii (which I think is our best chance of strengthing the industry) don’t wise up, we will be done for.
Oh and the people who made Okami (and I think Viewtiful Joe) were called Clover. They’ve since reformed as Platinum Games and are making Bayonetta (PS3) and Mad World (Wii). So there’s still hope!
I was going to write an article about this but you seemed to have beat me to it. Shucks…
January 30th, 2009 on 12:32 am
Wow, there’s a couple of comments on here that would have been better printed as articles in and of themselves. All very thoughtful stuff.
Judging by the economy at the moment, I don’t think we’re in for a games crash, personally. Entertainment booms during recession and depression, especially independent entertainment. Indy games are on the uprise, for consoles and PCs alike, many of them cheap-or-free, and quite a few are lovingly made by creative, talented individuals. Indy games are going to keep us, the consumer and gamer, afloat, even if the big studios all drown. Just keep donating to talented freeware devs, and buying from the folks who bring us quality titles at minimal cost.