|Believe it or not, the gaming business isn't about giving you and your friends fun games to play, it's about making money.
This is overly cynical. Surely its about both? Gaming & Business? If it ain't fun, its not going to sell. Sure stockholders are the raison d'etre for many companies, but without the appeal and functionality of the actual product, whos going to buy from them?
I know there is a widely-claimed dearth of creativity in the gaming industry right now, and the most successful franchises are exactly that: franchises which replicate with minor improvements on an established model largely guaranteed to sell, BUT a lucrative market is only lucrative because the demand (i.e the desire for the enjoyable, interesting, satisfying, thrilling or otherwise stimulating experience that "video" games provide) is strong, and in the case of computer games, there is a very high standard and associated high cost to create or develop. Maybe the initial costs inhibits certain experiments and games, but the high standard does goes long way to assure that when you plonk your £39.99 on the latest and greatest home entertainment extravaganza, you'll be enjoying a relatively polished product.
Perhaps your own disillusionment is giving vent to a cynicism that perhaps not all game developers share? Or am I in the hippie no-mans-land of starry-eyed shareware developers and delusionally devoted console fanboys in believing that truly unique, thrilling AND successful games are the product of hard work and genuine passion backed by the large resources that the unique mass-appeal of these strange gaming experiences we enjoy can generate?
Also at work, so will have to wait to view it, but I'd just like to add that Halo is an excellent game. However patchy its history, and whatever regrets we may hold regarding what could have been (and whatever personal vendettas various microsoft-loathers hold), its eventual release as a console game resulted in an extrodinarily good, immersive, enjoyable fps with superb and fun multiplayer. Halo's many well-documented and lamented flaws (repetitive levels, checkpoint-of-death-with-no-ammo, etc) do not detract from the ultimate enjoyment of this game. I would also like to add that I regularly play the PC version of Halo as well, solely as multiplayer game. Its not UT2kx or Quake TA, but then I've always considered that Halo PC's strong point, not being a huge fan of the mainstream fragfest FPS. Call it a matter of taste, but I can't understand the extent of the bitterness and criticism directed towards Halo, when the end result was such a satisfying game for so many people.
Slashdot Mirror
|Believe it or not, the gaming business isn't about giving you and your friends fun games to play, it's about making money.
This is overly cynical. Surely its about both? Gaming & Business? If it ain't fun, its not going to sell. Sure stockholders are the raison d'etre for many companies, but without the appeal and functionality of the actual product, whos going to buy from them?
I know there is a widely-claimed dearth of creativity in the gaming industry right now, and the most successful franchises are exactly that: franchises which replicate with minor improvements on an established model largely guaranteed to sell, BUT a lucrative market is only lucrative because the demand (i.e the desire for the enjoyable, interesting, satisfying, thrilling or otherwise stimulating experience that "video" games provide) is strong, and in the case of computer games, there is a very high standard and associated high cost to create or develop. Maybe the initial costs inhibits certain experiments and games, but the high standard does goes long way to assure that when you plonk your £39.99 on the latest and greatest home entertainment extravaganza, you'll be enjoying a relatively polished product.
Perhaps your own disillusionment is giving vent to a cynicism that perhaps not all game developers share? Or am I in the hippie no-mans-land of starry-eyed shareware developers and delusionally devoted console fanboys in believing that truly unique, thrilling AND successful games are the product of hard work and genuine passion backed by the large resources that the unique mass-appeal of these strange gaming experiences we enjoy can generate?
Also at work, so will have to wait to view it, but I'd just like to add that Halo is an excellent game. However patchy its history, and whatever regrets we may hold regarding what could have been (and whatever personal vendettas various microsoft-loathers hold), its eventual release as a console game resulted in an extrodinarily good, immersive, enjoyable fps with superb and fun multiplayer. Halo's many well-documented and lamented flaws (repetitive levels, checkpoint-of-death-with-no-ammo, etc) do not detract from the ultimate enjoyment of this game. I would also like to add that I regularly play the PC version of Halo as well, solely as multiplayer game. Its not UT2kx or Quake TA, but then I've always considered that Halo PC's strong point, not being a huge fan of the mainstream fragfest FPS. Call it a matter of taste, but I can't understand the extent of the bitterness and criticism directed towards Halo, when the end result was such a satisfying game for so many people.