By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming Discussion - Self destructive graphics arms race is wiping out game devs.

 

Have games become to demanding, too expensive to make?

Yes, and it is a self-des... 182 69.73%
 
No, give me 4K even if it bankrupts them. 79 30.27%
 
Total:261
Groundking on 28 December 2016

This has been happening since games went 3d, it really isn't anything new...



Around the Network
Lafiel on 28 December 2016
FunFan said:
RolStoppable said:
It's not consumers who demand this. Generating pretty pictures just so happens to be the most effective way to sell mediocre gameplay and at the same time push financially more constrained competitors out of the market. The latter in particular is the reason why companies like EA and Ubisoft embrace the arms race.

I feel that I was very polite in this response.

Too polite. Too much restrain by not mentioninig console manufacturers involvement.

what is the alternative for them? not showing off what their machine is capable off will negatively impact public opinion and buyer interest in their product

people will think "my old console is still good enough" or "the competition looks much more desireable"



zorg1000 on 28 December 2016
BraLoD said:
Rab said:

You focused on one small point of the whole message, what about the rest?

SK did do very well on the Wii U anyway launching on Wii U and PC at the same time (it was a console exclusive), and as for kickstarters Wii U was included in many 

Wii had even greater success with 3rd partys, this sites software sales have ample evidence of that, but again that can often depend on genre   

You originally wanted to know if Nintendo helped 3rd parties, the answer is they did, and many smaller 3rd parties took advantage of that help, just check Wii U's indie scene ( http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1172907 ), and Wii's software sales in some of it's core genres on this site  

Shovel Knight was the only game example you gave me, that's why I addressed it.

My original point was to counter the post of that user that said Nintendo give them options, like they failed because they didn't accept Nintendo help... which is ludicrous.

To be fair, there is some truth to what he said.

You can go back and look at the build up to Wii, Iwata stated that the HD consoles would see development costs go through the roof causing many studios to close shop and the studios that remained would play it safe and double down on the types of gameplay experiences that were already popular. Wii & DS offered an alternative where developers could think outside the box to make creative software without the need to sell millions of copies to break even.

Unfortunately many studios flooded the market with low-quality shovelware meant to do nothing but milk the expanded audience & make a quick buck to help fund their big HD projects.



When the herd loses its way, the shepard must kill the bull that leads them astray.

tinfamous12 on 28 December 2016

Gamers are doing this. And the media. Honestly, gamers (not all but a majority) are the gaming industries biggest enemy and biggest ally. It's crazy.



SonytendoAmiibo on 28 December 2016
zorg1000 said:
BraLoD said:

Shovel Knight was the only game example you gave me, that's why I addressed it.

My original point was to counter the post of that user that said Nintendo give them options, like they failed because they didn't accept Nintendo help... which is ludicrous.

To be fair, there is some truth to what he said.

You can go back and look at the build up to Wii, Iwata stated that the HD consoles would see development costs go through the roof causing many studios to close shop and the studios that remained would play it safe and double down on the types of gameplay experiences that were already popular. Wii & DS offered an alternative where developers could think outside the box to make creative software without the need to sell millions of copies to break even.

Unfortunately many studios flooded the market with low-quality shovelware meant to do nothing but milk the expanded audience & make a quick buck to help fund their big HD projects.

 

Do you have a link to Iwata-san's statement regarding HD development? I would like to read what he said. Like I said in a previous post, I think Nintendo is keeping their systems lower power for very real reasons. Cost of game development being one of them.

   

Hey! They got SONY on my amiibo! Wait a minute. Two great gaming tastes that game great together!

Switch FC: SW-0398-8858-1969

Around the Network
the_dark_lewd on 28 December 2016

Bit skeptical of these claims. What counts as AAA is a relative term.

Has the number of companies going under really changed that much? Or is it just that fewer can afford to compete at the top graphical level now? There are more games than ever before. Plenty are of a decent standard. It's just that only a few are at the GTA budget level.



zorg1000 on 28 December 2016
SonytendoAmiibo said:
zorg1000 said:

To be fair, there is some truth to what he said.

You can go back and look at the build up to Wii, Iwata stated that the HD consoles would see development costs go through the roof causing many studios to close shop and the studios that remained would play it safe and double down on the types of gameplay experiences that were already popular. Wii & DS offered an alternative where developers could think outside the box to make creative software without the need to sell millions of copies to break even.

Unfortunately many studios flooded the market with low-quality shovelware meant to do nothing but milk the expanded audience & make a quick buck to help fund their big HD projects.

 

Do you have a link to Iwata-san's statement regarding HD development? I would like to read what he said. Like I said in a previous post, I think Nintendo is keeping their systems lower power for very real reasons. Cost of game development being one of them.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2005/03/11/gdc-2005-iwata-keynote-transcript



When the herd loses its way, the shepard must kill the bull that leads them astray.

Safiir on 29 December 2016
zorg1000 said:

Wii & DS offered an alternative where developers could think outside the box to make creative software without the need to sell millions of copies to break even.

That's not really true though. Cing, for example, closed down although they were developing exclusively for wii and ds. And their games were absolutely awesome! I'm sure there are other examples but this is a really glaring one. Obviously there's a lot more to the fiscal health of a game developer than whether or not it has HD graphics.



Lawlight on 29 December 2016

I'm still waiting for the 80% list of AAA studios that went bust since 2006.



WagnerPaiva on 29 December 2016

I agree OP. And old school graphics JRPGs are much more relaxing. I was playing Suikoden last week and thinking: Oh, this is heaven, what a delicious experience.



My grammar errors are justified by the fact that I am a brazilian living in Brazil. I am also very stupid.