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BBC Ponders Another Games Industry Crash
weirdguy writes with a link to a BBC article that poses the same question asked by journalists every couple of years: is the games industry headed for another crash? "Yes, gamers are snapping up the new generation of games consoles — Microsoft's Xbox 360, Nintendo's Wii, and Sony's Playstation 3 [PS3], but at huge cost to the industry. Hardware makers are losing hundreds of dollars on every console sold, and games publishers face an "increasingly difficult environment, as rising development costs and small user bases [mean] that return on investment in next generation games development is unlikely to be achieved before 2008," according to media analysts Screen Digest. More importantly, though, the video games publishers are facing a revolution of their business model."
Actually, I think its more like:
Microsoft: Make Money.
Sony: Make Money.
Nintendo: Inspire the masses, bring a new era of creativity and end world hunger through friendship created through the joy of gaming....I mean, Make Money.
The strategies might be different and some definately better for those of us that love gaming, but the end goal is always the same. And if you don't think that Nintendo wouldn't love to be the 800lb. Donkey Kong it was in the old days so it can throw its weight around in the same way Sony has burned itself doing, think again.
That site has a ton of XBOX360's in stock, so I guess they aren't selling either. And holy cow, look at the DVD's sitting on the shleves at Best Buy. Obviously NO ONE is buying DVD's anymore! Otherwise they would be sold out....right?
The BB in downtown toronto had 15 ps3's last week. (And dozens of PSP's and DS's.) This week they have 2 PS3's left so SOMEONE IS BUYING THEM. There are, what, 50 BB in canada? At 60 per month, that's 3000/month in Canada alone. They are selling, just like Xbox360, psp they are just not in short supply.
Can we please drop the stupid 'they are in stock so that proves no one is buying them' concept?
And while we are on this topic, can we also please drop the 'I don't know anyone with a PS3 but I know for a fact that everyone on earth wants a Wii'
Please.
JON
Well yeah, Nintendo is pushing it as the console of the bejewelled player. The wii thrives on cheep, easy games that are simple to play. Attracts a lot of new gamers, but the older ones are left out as a result. Motion controls, as the wii has it's set up, just don't work for a lot of genres, but they are great for point and click games and ones that only require motion to control, like golf. Everything else its stuck with a bad control scheme. The result? Formally mainstream genres become unplayable on the console. Not to mention, the lack of power makes the grand epics we see in the future of the PC, ps3, and 360 platforms near impossible. It just doesn't have what it takes to bring such games to light in the way the others can. Its like limiting a movie director to 8mm film, where as the other studios are letting them go hog wild with 32mm and digital stock. Sure you can make some great stuff, but the limitation is obvious. I've had a wii since release and well, it's novelty has worn on me. The two greatest games are ports form a previous generation. The controls on most games are horrid and graphics and sound seem washed out. It's pretty much the home console built for people who spend time on thousand dollar pc's playing java games. These aren't the people who run out and buy half life 2 or the like. What I fear is the wii's influence on the industry. I don't want to see the end of the epic game due to the profitability of the simple mini-game. It was that style of game design that caused the industry crash, and kept video games are child's toys for decades. Nintendo is making insane amounts of money by basically selling the TV console version of a gameboy. Gameboys rarely, if ever, produced any sort of epic game. The majority are simple junk thats really isn't worth playing in the long run. As for how they make so much money? They avoid costs. No online setups, no support for advanced audio or video options, outdated or barely acceptable hardware, and farming out main franchises to second or third parties. This lets them avoid all the sought after, but costly, expenses you see Sony or MS endure. But because of Nintendo's following, they can never be seen in a bad light. They can literally do no wrong in the eyes of most people. If Sony or MS had made the same design decisions, they woudl be bashed to hell and back. After all, didn't we bash sony for months over Ps3 spec's, yet have forever remained silent that Nintendo never released any wii specs? So really, the core of the matter is the wii is the home gameboy, with all the same limitations, and with largely the same audience in target. Frankly, I just don't see why thats a good thing.