Snapshot of the Gaming Industry
I said before that the gaming industry is approaching a huge Xmas season. I believe sales will be much larger than expected, and the industry should see a corresponding jump in cultural recognition. Naturally, we're hearing about some growing pains right now...
A new set of consoles is around the corner, and with the advances in technology comes greatly increased development time. This is going to shrink the industry again, down to what many believe will only be 7-8 major publishers. This doesn't mean originality will disappear, but big budget games will most likely be sequels to proven franchises in established genres.
Then there is the brillant realization that women play games too, and gee-duh, they don't like the same things that guys like. Next will come the stupid idea to stop making guy games in order to make room for the girl games. The Elspa has an unfortunately named report, "Chicks and Joysticks," that studies a wide range of women in all aspecs of the industry. Like anything that talks about stereotypes, the report itself is trapped in them. Women play differently, they like different rewards and punishments that are the foundation of all games. The industry is going to have to make entirely new products, explore new genres, something it seems loath to do right now. You aren't going to see grrl-versions of FSPs or RTSs that sell in the millions, there isn't a way to make Girl Theft Auto or Woom or whatever the flavor of the month is for the men and apply a wrapper for the ladies. And you can't expect developters like id or Rockstar to change their style because some people don't like it. They made millions doing the exact opposite.
Lastly is a column on Sony's failure with the PSX, an important machine in the much heralded "convergence" movement where your game console does everything and is the gateway for ALL your entertainment needs. The more your console does, the more money Sony or Microsoft can steal from cable providers and music stores. The approach has been touted to gamers as a new religion so many times already I can only imagine the entire collective rolling their eyes at every E3. The PSX is only the latest yet grandest failure in the convergence march-off-the-cliffs.
It's a colossaly stupid idea... or is it? Sony is trying to converge on their new handheld device, the PSP, by offering movies that play exclusively on their tiny machine. Why on earth would anyone pay extra money to watch a movie they probably already own on a screen the size of my thumb? PSP's movies will almost certainly fail to ignite a mass-march to this new medium, but Sony probably already knows this. Such things are pure profit for the electronics giant, who already owns a large library of work. Packaging The Matrix onto a tiny disc probably costs 1/20th of the final asking price. And Sony has a hated-history of doing things like this, coming up with its own proprietary versions of otherwise universal things, such as Beta, memory sticks, and mini-discs. None of these closed formats have taken off like the Playstation has (another closed system) and yet Sony continues the model with each new generation. It's not unlike what Apple does when they take generic Wi-Fi technology and stick it in a fancy Airport casing, charging way more money than it's worth and making a very tidy profit. It's all bottom line. But I'm not paying for it.
A new set of consoles is around the corner, and with the advances in technology comes greatly increased development time. This is going to shrink the industry again, down to what many believe will only be 7-8 major publishers. This doesn't mean originality will disappear, but big budget games will most likely be sequels to proven franchises in established genres.
Then there is the brillant realization that women play games too, and gee-duh, they don't like the same things that guys like. Next will come the stupid idea to stop making guy games in order to make room for the girl games. The Elspa has an unfortunately named report, "Chicks and Joysticks," that studies a wide range of women in all aspecs of the industry. Like anything that talks about stereotypes, the report itself is trapped in them. Women play differently, they like different rewards and punishments that are the foundation of all games. The industry is going to have to make entirely new products, explore new genres, something it seems loath to do right now. You aren't going to see grrl-versions of FSPs or RTSs that sell in the millions, there isn't a way to make Girl Theft Auto or Woom or whatever the flavor of the month is for the men and apply a wrapper for the ladies. And you can't expect developters like id or Rockstar to change their style because some people don't like it. They made millions doing the exact opposite.
Lastly is a column on Sony's failure with the PSX, an important machine in the much heralded "convergence" movement where your game console does everything and is the gateway for ALL your entertainment needs. The more your console does, the more money Sony or Microsoft can steal from cable providers and music stores. The approach has been touted to gamers as a new religion so many times already I can only imagine the entire collective rolling their eyes at every E3. The PSX is only the latest yet grandest failure in the convergence march-off-the-cliffs.
It's a colossaly stupid idea... or is it? Sony is trying to converge on their new handheld device, the PSP, by offering movies that play exclusively on their tiny machine. Why on earth would anyone pay extra money to watch a movie they probably already own on a screen the size of my thumb? PSP's movies will almost certainly fail to ignite a mass-march to this new medium, but Sony probably already knows this. Such things are pure profit for the electronics giant, who already owns a large library of work. Packaging The Matrix onto a tiny disc probably costs 1/20th of the final asking price. And Sony has a hated-history of doing things like this, coming up with its own proprietary versions of otherwise universal things, such as Beta, memory sticks, and mini-discs. None of these closed formats have taken off like the Playstation has (another closed system) and yet Sony continues the model with each new generation. It's not unlike what Apple does when they take generic Wi-Fi technology and stick it in a fancy Airport casing, charging way more money than it's worth and making a very tidy profit. It's all bottom line. But I'm not paying for it.
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