In my eyes the key reason why niche genres are getting a bum rap compared to FPS and 3rd Person Adventures is that every game at retail, regardless of budget, is being sold for a blockbuster price.
If it was acceptable to sell a retail game for £20 instead of £45+ then I think we'd see a lot more of the niche genres still kicking around outside of indie games. And if the price was lower more people would be willing to spend on them.
Or to put it another way; you have £45 to spend on one game, do you pick the latest Assassin's Creed/ COD/ GTA or do you pick up a Wonderful 101/ Trauma Centre/ Crimson Dragoon? The vast majority would take the 'blockbuster'.
Now, if for the same outlay, you could pick up 2 'niche' titles OR one 'blockbuster', the niches would probably start to sell more copies. They still wouldn't hit COD levels; they're still niche at the end of the day, but I think they'd be a lot more successful.
The other issue is that publishers need to see 'success' as 'recouping costs' more than 'megabucks in profit'.
TBH, I think this may be where Nintendo is headed (we'll see this year); capturing the niche genres and allowing Sony and Microsoft to duke it out over whose framerate is marginally better in Call of Duty.
Existing User Log In
New User Registration
Register for a free account to gain full access to the VGChartz Network and join our thriving community.
