This is a rant.
I was thinking about this earlier, with the whole "used games" and "DRM!" movements.
The question is - Why?
Why are we even going through this?
Why does the videogame industry have to be the only industry where the big players are trying to screw over the consumer? I mean, second hand CDs have never hurt the music industry enough for them to be stopped, with online offerings generally cheaper than offerings in stores. Second hand DVDs have never hurt the movie industry enough for them to be stopped. The list goes on. The second hand market has never hurt the primary market enough for extreme measures like were seeing in the videogame industry.
The problem isnt the used game market. The problem is the developers and publishers having over inflated egos and hands big enough to reach the bottom of that very, very deep company pocket.
If every other publisher and developer didnt think they were in fucking Hollywood, maybe they wouldnt need to sell so many copies brand new. The general consumer isnt interested in another cinematic, corridor shooter that tries (and fails) to leech off of the Call of Duty formula. The fans of Final Fantasy dont want to sacrifice exploration, mini-games and most of all fun for oh so pretty CG-like graphics. Gamers dont want to buy a videogame, only to find out that to get the full experience they need to buy fucking day one DLC.
Gamers, your core fanbase, dont want you to change the successful formula that appealed to the masses in the first place. Too many games this generation have tried pandering to the "big budget" multiplayer audience and failed. Why? Because the industry cant support giant $100 Million budgets on games that simply dont have the fanbase or appeal. Its simple logic and the higher-ups at major publishers are generally fucking morons who cant understand that having teams of 300 people working on a game for 3-4 Years isnt a good business practice.
From the top of my head, in recent memory these "big budget" games have fallen flat. Despite some of them doing good for the respective franchise (Tomb Raider, Hitman), these games havent made a good profit (if any) or reached expectations.
- Resident Evil 6
- Dead Space 3
- FUSE
- Hitman: Absolution
- Tomb Raider
- Sleeping Dogs
- Every THQ game
The industry cant support so many big budget games. The industry isnt that big, as much as people like to think it is.
If EA didnt screw around with what made Dead Space so popular, we wouldnt now be seeing the end of the franchise. If they didnt make it a big budget, multiplayer title and kept it as a single player, survival horror title then maybe, just maybe the game may have been successful. If EA actually released games on NIntendo platforms, day and date with other versions or without gimping them, maybe they wouldnt sell like shit.
If Square Enix actually knew anything about the games they were releasing, maybe they wouldnt put $100 Million budgets on games that traditionally sell less than 3 Million units. If Square Enix want to make a profit from big franchises, maybe they wouldnt put games on hold for Years on end. Maybe they wouldnt have giant teams of people working on games for 6-7 Years at a time. Maybe they wouldnt release a half-arsed MMO and drain even more money. Maybe they wouldnt release games that nobody wants.
If Bethesda actually released games that worked, maybe they would sell more brand new copies. Maybe people wouldnt be pushed away from buying the product at full price. Test the fucking games before you release them.
If Capcom actually released games on discs that didnt have a bunch of content locked, maybe the consumer wouldnt be so wary of buying Capcom games. If they didnt release a game nobody wanted them to release, maybe the game would have sold well. If they didnt try tack on fucking multiplayer onto Resident Evil, maybe the series could reach the heights it once had.
I think you get the point. Now on to why Nintendo are brilliant.
Nintendo know what software sells and Nintendo know how to sell that software. They know what the market wants.
While there are droughts on Nintendo consoles from time to time, Nintendo's own software is brilliant. Its generally of good quality and the games dont have huge budgets. Nintendo keep franchises fresh, while keeping what made them so popular in the first place. Nintendo dont stick to one genre, Nintendo expand the library out to the majority of genres.
They do this while remaining profitable.
Nintendo dont follow the crowd. Nintendo innovate. Nintendo games sell Millions and make Billions. Nintendo make GAMEPLAY the priority, over "how pretty it looks". They dont have bloated, sinkhole studios that work on $100 Million budgets. This is why Nintendo as a software company has always been successful and always will be successful. The consumer doesnt want a game that rivals the latest Pixar movie. The consumer wants a videogame that you can go back and play time and time again. The consumer wants a videogame thats fun and refreshing, while at times familiar and definitely challenging at the same time.
If more publishers followed the Nintendo route, maybe things wouldnt look so bleak for the industry. If publishers made appealing, good quality games on a smaller budget... Just maybe they wouldnt be bleeding Millions of Dollars with every game release. Maybe they wouldnt have to introduce anti-consumer policies and generally piss off the fanbases that support them.
tldr - I hate this dumb, shitty industry sometimes
