What’s ailing the video game industry?

What is wrong? Is it the world recession? The bigger gap in between new console launches?

[MultiConsoleGamer]

This gen is just too long.

Global economy.

Lack of an exciting "new thing." Wii filled that gap for a while. At least a couple of years.

Negativity in gaming culture is also a huge factor.

[morganfell]

Irresponsible press, uneducated adolescent writers, agenda driven reviewers are the scourge of gaming. Fanboys are actually good for the industry but not when they sit in the media, which exists outside of game development, and influence via press threats and idiotic scores what happens within game development.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Agree with your comments about the press.

Do not agree with the idea that fanboys are "good" for the industry. In fact, I'll prove otherwise at a future date.

[Godmars290]

That it happened too soon as far as I'm concerned. That and the general failure to live up to exaggerated aspirations. The BS surrounding motion control, the forced evolution of game controls and gaming in general when no one had a clue of what they were doing. With egos too big to admit as much.

[kevnb]

PC is doing fantastic, console games mostly just can't make money anymore.

[NeoTribe]

console games sell more than pc... and make more money than pc... go back to playing ur 20 year old halflife crap.

[kevnb]

Well I might have been trolling a bit, but the money is currently on multiplayer PC games. The console market is all sequels and copy cats thanks to the high costs, having to sell millions of copies to be a success is harsh.

[DivineHand125]

99% of the games are just clones of a more successful game in that particular genre. Hardly any originality, just copy and paste with a new skin. Also the length of this gen adds to the problem. Software sales are down and gaming websites are getting less hits because people are starting to lose interest.

I hope the next consoles are announced and released next year. I Also hope the console makers and engine builders are working on innovative ways to bring down development cost so that next gen will be just as healthy as last gen and the Japanese developers can make a comeback next gen.

I believe the talent we have seen from the past generations are still there in japan and the problem is that they do not have the resources to compete with the western developers to deliver great graphics and the man power needed to push out AAA games that seems to catch the attention of western gamers .

[BelieveinGhosts]

You are completely right. Hard core games are dead. I dont think it is the fault of gamers but the gaming media deserve most of the blame. Afterall, there are a lot of fans who would buy a good tactical shooter whether 3rd person or 1st person.

I have noticed that the only games that get very high metacritic ratings in this current gen are casual games with great graphics and little substance that imitate Call of Duty.

This causes a lot of people to buy this imitations, which is why CoD style fps are selling a lot.

Hardcore 3rd person games are dead after Sony shut down Socom 4.

I hope that next gen, Microsoft acquire the license to socom or atleast make the same type of Hardcore tactical 3rd person shooter with a different name.

If this happens, i will abandone Sony and not buy the Xbox 720 instead of the PS4 and i will be completely satisfied with gaming in a long time

[PoSTedUP]

this is why i am solely gaming on the vita from here on in besides a few big games like The Last Of Us. games that come to the vita are a breath of fresh air. if you didn't game on the DS or PSP this generation you are missing out.

[AtomicGerbil]

Atrocious journalism and publisher's putting shareholders before customer service.

[B_Rian89]

i think a big issue is the price of the software. $60 is too much for a game

[SKUD]

I do agree. Everything from the initial cost of the hardware vs features vs price. Software vs features vs DLC vs price. Some where in all that mess is supposed to be a good deal.

This generation has been a huge cluster fuk. I don't see the next gen correcting mistakes made.

[iceman06]

Were you alive in the 90's? The MAJOR hits for the SNES were upwards of $75...for a cartridge. Now, you add in the economic issues with the price of software...and I might agree.

[ChunkyLover53]

There are a few problems that I can see.

1.This console generation has gone on far too long, the longest in history. The core gamer's have all already jumped into HD gaming this generation. The core market is saturated and only the family/casual market remains.

2.Because of the current development times of new IP's, we are mostly seeing sequels. Nobody wants to put in the time on brand new ideas because those new games would take too much time and cost too much money. The interesting new IP's lately have sold poorly and not recouped the money they cost to make.

3.The economy is as poor as its been in a long, long time. America is in an election year and things are uncertain. When America is in financial trouble, it tends to cause uncertainty across the globe.

I still think new consoles would be successful at a decent price. The first console to be priced above $399 is going to fail pretty hard though. I believe the sweet spot for next gen is $299-$350.

[JBSleek]

It has nothing t do with the economy that is a false statement. The bad economy doesn't explain record sales for $500+ tablets or new Ultrabooks which can cost up to 1,500+. People have plenty of money to spend it just they aren't putting that into gaming.

It has more t do with expensive games and a long generation cycle.

[iceman06]

This is technology that is competing for the same dollar...so people are forced to make a choice. 15-20 years ago there wasn't the same competition. There were no "all-in-one" solutions for entertainment. You were forced to buy a camera, a music player, a video player, and a video game system. Now, you have choices for both home and on the go. Seems like the economy has forced people to cut their choices to a minimum. Thus, you grab the tablet or Ultrabook that can function for school, work, and entertainment as opposed to a gaming console that can kinda do other things.

[BanditGamer]

Every new IP is half-assed and every AAA quality game is a sequel

[berndogskate]

looooong console cycles, pc acceleration speeds in Every department the next next gen now.

[BelieveinGhosts]

Bring back non cinematic hard core games like Socom, Syphon filter, Last gen splinter cell, Last gen Hitman, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Last gen Medal of Honour

Uncharted is great but gaming is becoming diluted just like the music and film industry. Whether it is auto tuning in music or reality shows in TV e.g. Jersy shore or Kim Kardasian.

We need to return to the good old days of gaming where gameplay was paramount.

We gamers are encouraging this trend in the decilne of quality in gaming by supporting expensive DLC, casual gameplay made popular by COD and developers releasing unfinished games that we pay full price for because they know a patch can be released a few months after release.

This is why in this current gen, companies who value financial profits over quality of their games are having massive success. Activision, Capcom are making a lot of money by using these cheap tactics and other companies want a taste of their success so most games in the market are influenced by COD.

Last gen, Rockstar, Zipper, Kojima productions, konami, namco were all at the top of the gaming charts and this encouraged other developers to concentrated mainly on releasing quality games.

This trend can also be blamed on the gaming media e.g. IGN, gametrailers, gamespot etc who give Activision, Capcom, EA extremely high reviews so that people can buy games that lack quality.

This might also explain why most japanese developers are struggling this gen. They tend to focus on the fundamentals of gaming i.e. gameplay and quality with decent presentation.

While most Western developers are having more success because the majority excluding a few focus on graphics, presentation and Hype

[PirateThom]

This gen has had too many gimmicks and it's also seem some of the biggest franchises become utterly, utterly damaged beyond repair or try to appeal to the wrong audience.

Motion controls, 3D, online focus, DLC... all forced on us and no one asking for them.

This gen has gone on for too long but I think it's because of publishers being absolutely pathetic when it comes to taking risks with new IPs rather than the hardware.

I also think the audiences have just changed... why develop a multimillion dollar IP when you can sell Angry Birds or Minecraft?

[iceman06]

I agree that this gen has become the generation of gimmicks. Devs have become so excited about the possibilities of the future and forgot to provide for the here and now. I also agree that the gen has been stretched. It has a lot less to do with software and more to do with the waiting game. They are waiting for technology to become feasible (in terms of price) to provide for the adequate leap that the next gen needs to be noteworthy. Plus, as you stated, the audience has just been diluted. Mainstreaming of any media leads to dilution because the devs have to cater to the average...which means Angry Birds!!! Angry Birds might just be the E.T. of our generation. Not meaning that it is as horrible, but that it is a sign of a seismic shift in gaming trends that could lead to something horrible...all devs cashing in on the Angry Birds crowd while we are left in the cold.

[BuffMordecai]

Greed, milking a franchise until its on the brink of death, ridiculous dlc pricing, dlc locking on disk, paying for standard features, motion gaming, excessive advertising, completely dissolving awesome studios because one game underperformed in sales, lack of originality, sequels sequels sequels, Japan handing their franchises over to western developers (with often mediocre results), DRM, online passes, etc.

[BitbyDeath]

What’s ailing the video game industry?

Journalism.

[black911]

The console that is in the middle of the picture.

[Hicken]

The industry is its own problem.

That is to say: it's killing itself, on every conceivable level.

Gamers are turning into(if they weren't already) idiots, who are happy to let publishers and developers get away with the most ridiculous things. Many of the people now called "gamers" care little for the industry, itself, and are contributing to a lack of diversity by never branching out of their comfort zone as previous generations did.

Developers are becoming greedy and, in some cases, arrogant. People like Phil Fish are dodging the blame for self-made problems, while others are seeking to maximize profits at the expense of the consumer's ownership rights(all those who want money from (or an end to) the used market).

Publishers are going into Make Money Overdrive. They're shafting developers in contracts, creating on-disc DLC and online passes, and pushing for yearly releases of too many franchises, while at the same time not giving full (or enough) backing to new and unique games. They've thrown all their chips in with the casual crowd, apparently forgetting why these people are called "casual" in the first place.

Journalism in the industry is dead. Creating rumors to report as fact; piss-poor, ten minute reviews of 40-hour games that could have been written better by a 2nd-grader; fanboyism that bashes various companies for all the wrong reasons; making massive issues out of things that are no issue at all, and ignoring issues that should be more talked about.

Of course, there are exceptions to all of these things; they're just generalizations, indicative of the current trends in each area. But there is no aspect of the gaming industry that is not currently doing- or seeking to do- more harm than good, mostly for their own personal reasons(greed).