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Nem on 14 February 2015
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pokoko said:
Nem said:
Lack of games. The market became cut-throat with the rush the previous generation did into HD. Many companies went under and the ones we have left are mostly the rehash titles yearly variety.

There are few titles and far between. There are few next-gen exclusives because they are risky. There is less variety because it is risky. Basically, we are driving into a corner and the walls keep getting closer. One day people will get fed up of FPS' and this will all come crashing down.

That's pretty amusing, when you think about it, considering the FPS genre is what pushed gaming popularity so high.  If the technology needed for FPP hadn't come along, we'd still be stuck in a loop of platformers and sidescrollers and gaming would be infinitely more boring and much less wide-spread.  I know my interest in gaming waned considerably with the SNES until I discovered PC gaming (FPP games, in fact, with Daggerfall and Mech Warrior) and then the rise of the JRPG with the PS1.  The idea of more genres being added to the mix being a bad thing is ludicrous to me.

But, yes, there may come a day when competitive online military FPS games become less popular and the industry sheds a lot of casual gamers.  I don't see that causing anything to come crashing down, though, as there are other types of games that are very popular.  Besides, the market always rushes to fill a vacuum.  Resources would be shifted.

As far as things being cut-throat now, the most cut-throat generation gaming has ever seen was the NES era and we survived that, even if many fledgling studios did not.  It's all about adaptability.  The middle died last gen because the internet made information about a game avaliable at the drop of a hat and people stopped paying $60 for average titles when top-of-the-line titles were the exact same price.  Gone are the days when a cool-sounding titles and awesome boxart could push sales.  Thankfully, resonably priced downloadable titles are rising to replace them, many of which are also more creative to boot.


Hm... i disagree with almost everything. 

First, you defend FPS like they ushered in the 3D era. Racers and shooters ushered in 3D and platforms, fighters and FPS later cimented them. So, 3D and FPS are definitly not one and the same. But i think you greatly underestimate the dependency the market has entered from the "bros" audience. If they are shed, we will ne left with audiences the size of the Wii U and the Vita. Developers will just shift to mobiles after th casuals and will leave us hanging. I can only see specialised companies like Nintendo sticking around, just like in the NES era.

Also, your theory about internet killing the middle man. Nope. Development costs cut the middle man. If it were just bad games, you would be right, but theres lots of good games and good companies that went under. Also past giants like SEGA and Konami lost their footing and downsized.

We are left with few games and few companies. Actually, so few that the market is completely dependable on indie developers to keep putting outsoftware nowadays.