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."

Comments

No Govt Censorship Yet...

[blueZhift]

I think the bigger challenge to the future of games will be fostering creativity in the face of pressure to make formulaic "hits", rather than a legal crackdown and censorship. The reason I think censorship is not the big worry is that legislated censorship of games opens a door to censorship of movies, tv, and books. Once that door is opened, why stop at games? It wouldn't, and for that reason, despite all of the noise the politicians are making, we aren't likely to see any laws upheld that would censor and regulate games for content. Big media has enough money and clout to make sure that the door to censoring their products is not going to be opened. And there's that little thing called the U.S. Constitution standing in the way too.