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Game Over Author On the Future of Gaming
Gamespot has an interview with Game Over author Chris Morris on the future of the gaming industry. The Game Over column is a regular thoughtful commentary piece on the industry, and is well worth the time to follow. From the article: "The growing trend toward legislation is certainly the biggest issue retailers are facing. Lawmakers want to dictate where games can be placed on shelves and hold retail clerks legally accountable for checking IDs (when, for instance, people who sell movie tickets are not). The legal fees spent fighting these bills are going to be enormous, I suspect. Digital distribution may very well start to have an impact as we move later into the cycle."
These legal concerns are way exaggerated. These are politicians trying to score some easy "family values" points, but little if anything will actually come out of this. In the end, computer games are like cable TV. Sure, bad stuff gets broadcast, but it's so woven into society that nobody will be foolish enough to rub it the wrong way.
Personally, I believe that the gaming industry is setting itself up for another fall as seen before Nintendo arrived on the scene. The next generation consoles are expected to be more expensive than ever with the PS3 expected to debut for $400, which is interesting because it supposedly costs over $500 to manufacture. The Xbox and Revolution will probably be more reasonably priced, but will still come in costing a little more than gaming consoles generally cost in the past. Game prices are also expected to rise from $50 to $60. Granted that games have been priced at $50 for a while now, but inflation has been slowly reering its ugly head. Whether it's fair or not, consumers are not going to like it.
Additionally, small studios seem to be getting gobbled up by larger companies like EA. Game designers are generally being overworked and underpayed. How long before they decide that they've had enough and go on strike or quit in droves? Massive strikes or large upheavals in the industry would lead to even more delays than we're used to seeing currently. With the software sitting on a computer uncomplete and not in a store for people to buy, developement costs would technically go up as the income from sales becomes non-existant. Additionally, it seems that the industry has turned into Hollywood. There are always a few sleeper hits that creep out every now and again, but it seems like the industry has become sequal driven. As the cost of development rises, companies can't afford to take bigger risks. At the same time consumers are getting sick of being fed the same rehashed games over and over again.
Another factor is the industry's obsession with graphics and power. The dick measuring contest the PS3 and Xbox 360 have gotten into is ridiculous. Gameplay is put on the backburner while developers see how many more polygons they can squeeze in or how much more realistically they can get breat jiggles to be. 3D games have looked great and have wonderful worlds to explore, if the camera isn't busted beyond usability and the controls make you feel like your character is drugged. Companies have been mandating HD support in all games when many consumers don't have HD TVs capable of displaying resolutions that high. Additionally, making prettier graphics only increases the development costs. At a certain point they have to realize that the graphics that will only look marginally better aren't worth the extra cost.
The game industry has enough problems internally right now without worrying about what Congress is doing. Given their general track record, the government is the last thing that the game industry has to worry about, at least for the time being. If you're worried about a few nuts whining to their Senator are going to tear the game industry apart, perhaps you should step back and see that the industry is already doing a pretty good job of doing it by themselves.
When something like the Patriot act happens, you have to wonder how good is the Constitution anymore.
Neither.
/too lazy for an account
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A case that would be "more similar to the video game industry" would be the sale of movies (VHS, DVD).
Who you distribute it to is up to you (can't do that with a movie ticket) and it's not a legally defined drug/controlled substance (tobacco, alcohol).
Existing laws for the purchace of filmed/passive media should be expanded to that of interactive. If IDs are not required to buy a rated R movie, then rated M video games should get the same distinction.
Adults Only (AO) rated games should be treated as a NC-17 (or "X" though the MPAA has long since stopped using it) rated movie should be in the "locked up, but available to adult customers" category. Of course thanks to Wal/K/S-Mart buyers, that kind of media never gets mass distribution. Shop smart, shop S-Mart!