Reading Material: The 6 Most Ominous Trends In Video Games
Submitted by John on Mon, 06/27/2011 - 12:12
I read a good piece by David Wong on Cracked the other day (contrary to what you might expect, they have a lot of really good articles) about recent worrying trends in the video game industry. Two parts of the article in particular struck me as particularly relevant to what we're doing here. First, he talks about how a combination of increased piracy and rising development costs are driving companies towards ever-more-restrictive DRM and a "software as a service" model, in which one-time purchases of games are replaced with a subscription and/or microtransaction-based approach. Second, he points to the growing lack of innovative titles as studios concentrate on "safe" genres and themes to protect their return on the increasingly large budgets needed for top-tier games.
As I was reading I kept thinking two things to myself: First, that these trends don't bode well for our chances of a new Sim City game from EA or any other big publisher. But, secondly, that these are both problems that Metropolis can answer. Our model makes the DRM/piracy issue irrelevant: it's open source and will already have had its development paid for by the time it's released, so people copying it for free is a moot point (in fact, more people copying is good, as more players means a stronger community). It also removes the fear of innovation in several ways: both by involving the players/customers in the development process from day one, and allowing it to evolve in response to their wishes; And by having an appropriate budget predetermined by the number of subscribers. In other words, the developers will know from the start how big their audience is, how much that audience is willing to spend, and what they're expecting right from the start, so they won't be forced into the lowest-common-denominator calculus of trying to produce a mega-blockbuster hit.
In general, I consider myself a pragmatist rather than an idealist; I didn't start this project out of some kind of Open Source zealotry, but on the assumption that this is the best and most realistic way to see a proper Sim City successor. But I also find it very exciting that if we succeed, we might not just create an awesome city sim, but revolutionize the way games are made.
Read the full article here:
The 6 Most Ominous Trends in Video Games by David Wong, via Cracked.com.
3 reponses to "Reading Material: The 6 Most Ominous Trends In Video Games"
1. I feel like the industry is
I feel like the industry is just hovering above the precipice of collapse. In that sense, I hope that it collapses soon. I'm tired of this formulaic visual pablum that people call gaming. I'm sick to death of it! If we can't make the Metropolis Project work, I fear I will just have to give up gaming as anything close to a hobby. Guess that would make more time for art eh?
2. While I don't think it's
While I don't think it's about to fall apart just yet, I agree that in the long term, a short-term collapse might really revitalize the game industry. One of the best points in the article was that right now there are so many different kinds of experience lumped into the general category of gaming that it doesn't make sense to apply the same business model to all of them. Unfortunately, when you have big, entrenched companies dominating the market, it's hard for alternative business models to gain acceptance. A widespread industry collapse might be just the catalyst that's needed to spur that change. I know it would certainly be good for us. Nevertheless, the flip side of a crash is lots of talented people in the industry out of work, and I certainly wouldn't wish that on anyone. I suppose in a perfect world outdated business models would just fade away gracefully, but sadly the opposite seems to happen more often than not.
3. Most videogames are meant for
Most videogames are meant for profit which means sticking to tried and true methods, styles, or characters and only innovating according to polls. LA Noire was innovative for a videogame but it took a ton from popular movies and videogames.
Indie or open source games cater to the creators or fans. Think of the popularity of Minecraft and the legion of games based on it. Retro graphics is in again. The visuals should never be a top priority when developing games. Nobody plays Crysis as it is meant to be played.
In order to make a city simulator and builder game that fanatics (true fans) like is to start with the gameplay. Why do you think Synekism already has a sizable following and devoted City Journals?
Hell, Google Earth, Google Maps, and Crysis are all capable of the visuals that some people crave.
When it comes to the popularity of SimCity 4, there are several camps: the simulators, the photographers, the controllers/mayors, the custom content creators, the story tellers (socializers), and the casual gamer.
Most video game companies cater to the casual gamer or photographer. Cities XL catered to the photographers, the story tellers/socializers, and controllers. It has a strong but small fanbase. SimCity Societies catered primarily to the casual gamer but also the casual custom content creator and story tellers. It still has a dedicated fanbase but it is very small compared to the people who played it casually and actually paid the most.
TV Tropes says that a popular marketing tactic is "Follow the Leader" and we are trying to innovate on a classic. Innovation on a cult classic franchise is actually rather difficult logistically because it will always upset someone.
If you ask who I am in the SimCity 4 camp, I am a controller/mayor. All games I play allow me a degree of freedom to control things. I am not a dedicated City Simualtor fanatic, I do not stick to one videogame for more than a month at time though I will shuffle between games I already own or replace those I lost if I find a strong entertainment and addiction value to them. If I stick to one videogame for more than a month, I become completely obsessed to the point where my outside performance deteriorates (it happened in Spring 2005, the year I registered for the STEX). My obsession had grown so much over the summer that I had difficulty getting good grades in 8th Grade despite my superior intelligence.
Catering to the obsessive gamer is only profitable if a subscription is charged or the gamer constantly buys new games. Neither is good for a broke 1 game gamer.
"Words are words; explanations are explanations, promises are promises, but only performance is reality."
Always do your best and you will always be better than the best in my eyes.
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