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US Videogame Sales Have Biggest Drop In 9 Years
alphadogg writes "The recession appears to have finally caught up with the video game market. Sales of video game hardware and software were down by around one-third in June compared to the same month last year. After initially showing positive growth as the US slid into recession, the latest figures mark the fourth month of declines and the largest year-on-year decline in almost 9 years. 'The first half of the year has been tough largely due to comparisons against a stellar first half performance last year, but still, this level of decline is certainly going to cause some pain and reflection in the industry,' said Anita Frazier, a games analyst with NPD Group. She added, 'The size of the decline could also point to consumers deferring limited discretionary spending until a big event (must-have new title, hardware price cut) compels them to spend.' The entire video game market in the US was worth $1.2 billion in June, down 31 percent from the same period last year, according to NPD Group."
Firstly, just like Morrowind (and worse because I expected more from Oblivion), I wander around the towns wishing I could enter all those locked up buildings with their indestructible doors and windows. I don't feel like I'm in a medievalist fantasy world, I feel like I'm in a backlot set made from boxes dressed up to look like buildings.
Secondly, why does everyone have the same voice? OK, because to be fair you'd need about a hundred more voice actors. So why does everyone look the same then? Where are the really fat people, the short people, the children, the handicapped and the elderly infirm? Sure, I know there was a mod to add children but Bethesda should have done that. Also, for a medievalist fantasy world made in 2007, there aren't a lot of animals. I think there were as many animal species in Unreal (circa 1998).
Thirdly, one answer to the niggles above is that Bethesda would prefer to focus on the magic, combat and questing parts of the game. They're probably thinking that the players prefer fighting demons to hanging out in the village square listening to people gossip. Well if that's so, why did they nerf the combat and questing so much?
It's like this: There are no thrown weapons (daggers, darts, spears, javelins, etc.) because allegedly, Bethesda wanted to showcase the archery mechanics. Archery mechanics in which a bow fires an arrow about 20 metres. A lot of medieval tech weapons are missing. There are no long spears, pikes, halberds, caltrops or crossbows.
The questing is broken because its difficulty is linked directly to the mechanic by which the player's power and ability is assessed. Through a numbered levelling system. Yeah, that corny old rubbish. You can never be unique, you can only be less-than-or-equal-to the highest number value available in whatever limited range of class types are made available.
So far so creatively conservative, only now you find that - for no reason other than Bethesda are dumbasses - the dangerous fauna of Oblivion are spawned IN DIRECT PROPORTION to your class level. Its been pointed out that if you started the game and played it for ten minutes or so, then used a cheat to make yourself max level instantly, suddenly, Weynon Priory would be surrounded by hordes of Liches and Xivilai.
And it's that last point that kills Oblivion for me. Not the glass armour (wtf??) or the boringly similar countryside, but that In-Your-Face levelling mechanic. How can I feel like I'm in a fantasy world when I can almost hear the game engine shifting gear everytime I level up?
One last gripe. Only the most infantile fantasy RPGs have Luck as an attribute. Think about that. You can be lucky or unlucky, but how can anyone actually evaluate luck?