Slashdot Mirror
Game Industry goes from Geek to Chic
Raiford writes "A Reuters feature story describes how the computer gaming industry is shedding its geek persona in an attempt to attract Hollywood's best visual effects, sound, lighting and animation experts into the gaming fold. The story quotes the executive vice president of Electronic Arts on how rapidly advancing processor technology is demanding an expanded skill set and that Hollywood provides the ready source to meet the demand."
While there are still some great games, many of them with "cinematic" effects, the Hollywood-ization of the game industries are causing us to see lots of crappy games that are flashy, but also lack gameplay depth and especially challenge.
The Sega CD bombed back in the 90s, not because of the lack of system capabilities, but because Sega focused on crappy FMV-based games and hyped them as "interactive movies" rather than good games.
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
I loved this paragraph: The studios have sacrificed office space for a vast reception area with a cozy coffee corner and couches. Cubicles for programmers are squeezed high into the corners of the building, almost as an afterthought.
Meaning, the programmers are just unimportant people that they can "squeeze" away into cubicles, while tons of space is wasted in the fucking lobby. What a shitty company.
If I worked there, I'd organize all of the programmers to go work downstairs in the posh lobby and tell the management to fuck themselves.
Several years ago, we heard this same "party line" from such software developers as Origin. They promised us a merger between PC gaming and Hollywood. We got such things as Wing Commander III. (Most people I know loved the original Wing Commander, but by its 3rd. incarnation, just got boring to play. It felt like you were just running through repetitious missions so you could view a few more minutes of the movie afterwards.)
Now, EA is telling us that "more Hollywood" is just the thing for their sports simulations?
Great... So what'll it get us this time? Games that feel just like watching the real thing on TV, complete with commercial breaks featuring real actors and actresses?
The fact is, many industries find themselves getting closer together via computer technology advances. Still, it doesn't mean the relationship equally benefits both parties. (EG. Engineering folks are rapidly becoming forced to work more and more with computers, to the point where they're learning programming languages and becoming software developers in things directly related to their field. Does this mean traditional computer developers and/or I.T. staff are becoming more of engineers than they used to be? Nope....)
I think computer programmers and I.T. have provided a number of new tools to Hollywood, and certainly, Hollywood f/x teams have been forced to become much more computer-savvy than they used to be. Does it mean game developers need to bring "Hollywood" to their table, to improve their products? I think not.
The *core* problem,as I see it, is this. Hollywood specializes in creating passive entertainment. (Sit down and watch us act for 2 hours and you'll love it.) Gaming is all about sucking people in, actively.
PC games are dying
He might be right, here's why:
About 2 years ago I played Diablo for the first time on the PS(play-station 1). I was addicted immediately, and played 4 or 5 hours at a sitting. For whatever reason I decided to buy the PC version(it was like 10$ in the bargain bin or something) and I tried it on the old PC. What I noticed was that for the most part, it was the same game. The controls were equally playable, the graphics were just about the same quality, etc. The strage thing was, after a day or so...I decided to stop developing my character on the PC, and went back to the Playstation.
So to recap, I tried the PS version and liked it...then I tried the PC version and liked it the same...then I decided to stop playing the PC version and went back to the PS version. Why?
Furniture.
I have a very warm and cozy living room, and I sit in a nice comfy lazy-boy adjustable chair while I play on the Playstation. After a long work/school day of sitting in a straight-back chair...you most likely just want to lay back and relax. Playing 4 hours on the lazy-boy is much more appealing than 4 more hours of sitting in front of a PC.
The government has a defect: it's potentially democratic. Corporations have no defect: they're pure tyrannies. -Chomsky