Are Video Games nearly dead?

[etz 78]

I still don't know about Unity, the only time it really comes into my life is when it's ruining Steam.

 

Would that be AC :Unity ? Or does the unity game engine have issues on steam?

[Guest John Hancock]

There's basically a trend of people sticking any old stolen shit from Unity into a "game", slapping a $10 price tag on it, selling it through Steam, and then running away with the money when enough people realise it isn't a real game.

[DC 536]

EDIT- Out of curiosity is there ongoing game franchises or upcoming games anyone here reckons could be blockbuster status soon?

Arkham Knight and No Man's Sky immediately spring to mind as games from both camps (established franchise and new kid on the block) that should bust the block.

[King 277]

The videogame market is making more money now than it ever has, plus it's still early days for the current gen consoles and (at least on PS4 - as that is my personal experience), there are plenty of fantastic indie games to choose from.

 

Maybe you need to look deeper into the well to find the games that you won't find boring.

 

The yearly COD and Fifa releases will make shitloads of money but that doesnt mean the games industry is booming.It just seems to me that the consoles will become a thing of the past in time to come.

[Omega 354]

I think unity could be a thing, it's used outside of the gaming industry as well so as a platform it's not dependent on just that to finance itself. However at the moment it's a pain for browser gaming as it's yet another plug in to be downloaded and the games tend to be much bigger so if you're stuck on a slower connection can take a while to load. One day though...

[dsrchris 190]

The only thing I can't figure out is how Minecraft fits into this. The game is a bonafide blockbuster, but has no story, no missions, nothing other than what you decide to make of it. I can't think of a comparison for anything else like it anywhere in entertainment, it's just it's own phenomenon.

[Omega 354]

It's Blair Witch.

[Evil Gringo 279]

Or Napoleon Dynamite. Seriously what was the point of that film again?

[Guest John Hancock]

The fact it was funny mostly.

 

Minecraft's only abnormality is it's level of success, but not it's success itself. Outside of the imagination of gaming executives, all the breakthrough games have been totally separate from what we're being told games are supposed to be. Clash of Clans, Angry Birds, Minecraft, the Wii in general, FarmVille, World of Warcraft, that fucking fruit thing, outside of Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto, those kinds of games are leaving the console franchises and their hordes of rip-offs in the dust.

[Evil Gringo 279]

Maybe I should have said the plot...

 

I think that maybe, just maybe, the future of gaming is in mobile and touch screen devices. Even people that look down on console gaming as some childish, behind the times hobby game on a mobile device and don't even consider it gaming because they are doing it on a phone or tablet and not a purpose built console.

 

These people are idiots but that is besides the point.

 

Look at BubbleWitch, Bejewelled Blitz, Candy Crush (and its follow on Soda Crush) as well. Hell even some game developers are even linking in mobile versions of their game as well like WB with their Batman, Injustice and Mortal Kombat add on/companion pieces.

[Omega 354]

They aren't time sinks though and at the end of the day there's still an appetite for a game you can sink hours into that isn't repeating the same simple task repeatedly or hamstrung by cooldowns/timers.

 

Mobile gaming and touch gaming are fun no doubt but they aren't going to replace gaming in the future. As I say, I think consoles in general will die out and PC gaming will eventually replace them, maybe the steam console will replace them for a bit but in the end everyone lives their life through their computer, it's always got a place. A console works as long as people care about going out and buying the next one and I can't see that lasting.

[Evil Gringo 279]

I think that is why Microsoft are trying, with each adaptation of the X-Box, to include more and more stuff and make it capable of doing more and more stuff that isn't related to gaming.

 

I can browse and post on the internet, watch YouTube, watch Netflick, use Twitter and Facebook, catch up on All4, BBC iPlayer and 5 on Demand, watch the WWE Network, access my TV and a host of other cool stuff and still game like I can on the PC and not need to worry about my rig and if it is good enough for what is coming next. Granted with more and more indie games and steam games that is less of a worry now (for instance, if you can run Half Life 2 in top spec, you're golden with a lot of games of that ilk) but if I also what to play some of the bigger titles I need a good rig and may need to upgrade in future.

 

With the consoles I have a rig that people develop for, a universal constant that will not require me to spend on hardware as well as software bar the initial outlay. I think the problem is that because the Sony and the Microsoft AND the Wii architectures are so different it means if you want to reach as many people as possible and therefore want to publish on all available mediums you need to develop for FIVE different potential OS and hardware configurations (Mac OS/Windows/X-Box/Wii/PS) - that is what is driving the cost of creating games up and up.

 

For console gaming to work over a long and sustainable period, one company needs to win the war and there be ONE console that has a life span of say 5-7 years. That isn't to say if Microsoft won that Nintendo would leave the business, they could just go down the Sega route and be a publisher and developer and likewise Sony but everyone would have the same one system to work with, one development team, one cost to create and free up some money to be different and take a shot.

[Guest The Beltster]

Late to the party!

 

Cant see console gaming going anywhere anytime soon. Especially with the online/multiplayer aspect these days which is so popular (and which I despise). Mobile gaming isnt really gaming for the most part. Its just a bit of a laugh when you're on your lunch break or taking a shit, or on the train etc. I cant believe anybody is chomping at the bit for any upcoming iPhone games.

 

This new gen is slow out of the games and taking its time to build a good library, sadly relying on last gen games sold with all the original DLC and some slightly shinier graphics and packaged as something new rather than cranking out new, fresh stuff (online indy games aside). But really, as the gens progress and games get bigger, prettier and more complex, we probably should have all assumed they would be slower getting released as they take longer to actually make I'm think, right?

 

I still play my consoles (old and current), the industry seems healthy enough.

[DC 536]

It just seems to me that the consoles will become a thing of the past in time to come.

With the sales of the PS4 and the XBone, I can't see consoles going anywhere (and if you include handhelds - well, the DS and its variants - that's another huge number). The casual gamer will always go for a console simply due to the relative lack of requirement to customise and upgrade over time. I mean, with a PS4 game, I know that if I buy it in a shop (unless it's actually damaged), it will work on the PS4 I own. With a PC, there's a need to understand specs, etc, and the casual gamers (not to mention younger kids) won't want to get involved with that.

 

For this reason alone, consoles aren't going anywhere.

[Omega 354]

Disagree there, most people own at least a laptop if not a desktop. they will already do some gaming on those machines, even if it's super casual flash gaming. If consoles simply shift out poor AAA games that eventually end up on PC where they can be properly modded and updated then I can easily see people wondering why they pay £400 every 2 years for a graphics update.

[Evil Gringo 279]

The span of time between the original X-Box to the 360 was four years and from there to the current generation it was eight years. Between the PSone to PS2 was six years, from there it was the same length of time until we had the PS3 and it took seven years for the PS4 to be released.

 

So on average it is what, six years or so between consoles. In that time how many new graphics chips, processors, upgrades to RAM and motherboard connectivity occur in the PC hardware world? Not to mention OS versions, after all Microsoft at the moment average a new OS every three years. Vista was 2006, 7 was 2009 and Windows 8 in 2012, in fact 8 was already being developed before 7 was released and low and behold, Windows 10 (where is 9 by the way?) is being released this year, three years later.

 

So yes whilst buying a new console is partly a graphics update, PC users will need to do the same to hardware and software potentially in less of the time then the current console cycle at a cost that actually matches or depending on the rig you want to build, exceeds the cost of a home console.

 

Also if you wait six months after launch you'll avoid the high price at release that companies slap on every new gadget because they know part of society will pay any cost to own the newest anything, hence the reason people sleep outside Apple stores when a new iPhone is announced.

[Omega 354]

I have always disagreed with the point of view that PC's are more expensive that Consoles because you never compare like for like. Your paying £400 for the brand new top of the line console that does one thing well or you can buy a decent PC for an initial outlay of say £800 that will play modern games at good settings AND do all the other things a PC can do. I paid less than that for my rig over 5 years ago now and the only thing I updated was the CPU because I do video editing and needed the extra cores, I could have left the i3 in there with the GPU and been absolutely fine. Also after a year all the parts of the top line PC's drop more significantly than a consoles price so you can update the PC bit by bit when you can afford it and maintain the same level of performance for longer than any console stays relevant.

 

It's bullshit of the highest order to suggest that PC's are constantly more expensive. The more you outlay the longer before you need to upgrade as well so what you do pay extra for pays back anyway.

[Evil Gringo 279]

Eventually though the console will reach the same functionality of a PC in everything bar the ability to pirate music and video files. I stress eventually though because it depends on the leaps made by the PC in the next six years or so until the newest consoles are released.

 

I used to be more of a PC game then a console gamer truth be told. The FPS was born and is still at its best for me on the PC, the RTS likewise. I still play Red Alert 2 and 3 as well as Panzer General 2, Pacific General and C&C Generals to do this day on my PC. The first console version of FIFA or Madden I ever owned and played was FIFA '09. I custom built a rig in around 2003 for £500. By that I mean I bought all the parts and built it myself. I bought a new and upgraded one in 2006 for £800, mainly as I couldn't be bothered to do it myself this time and then the one I currently run for about the same price in 2009. I even managed to keep my love for the n64 alive through my PC as well and have enjoyed some amazing mods for No Mercy that allow it to stand up as a game even to this day.

 

I have no issue with PC gaming, in fact my fondest memories of my teenage gaming years where mostly on the PC. However the notion that something that is for the more hardened gamer would ever replace the convenient sugar rush of console gaming is something I refuse to believe. I also believe that with OS upgrades and the odd hardware update you will spend in six years on a PC the same amount as an outlay on a console at least - if you exceed the cost of a console it depends on if you have the gene that makes you want the newest shiny thing.

 

What may happen is a downturn in popularity for a little while whilst the gaming library for the new generation expands but come Christmas Halo 5, COD Black Ops III or something else will set a new sales record and everything will be forgotten.

[DC 536]

Disagree there, most people own at least a laptop if not a desktop. they will already do some gaming on those machines, even if it's super casual flash gaming. If consoles simply shift out poor AAA games that eventually end up on PC where they can be properly modded and updated then I can easily see people wondering why they pay £400 every 2 years for a graphics update.

I don't doubt most people own a laptop and / or a desktop, but I would hazard a guess that the percentage of those who have a top-of-the-line (or even a high-spec PC to be able to run the AAA games like GTA V at top-level capacity) would be very low and of those, only a fraction of that again would make up the modding community (be it modders or those who download the mods).

[Omega 354]

I don't doubt most people own a laptop and / or a desktop, but I would hazard a guess that the percentage of those who have a top-of-the-line (or even a high-spec PC to be able to run the AAA games like GTA V at top-level capacity) would be very low and of those, only a fraction of that again would make up the modding community (be it modders or those who download the mods).

 

Who the hell said anything about running them at top spec? GTA V on the PS4 and Xbox aren't being run at "top spec" compared to the top setting on PC so your point's rather wasted. the point is the potential for people to simply swap to PC from Console is massive but no one is going to drop their PC to only own a console. Being a ubiquitous piece of tech like a mobile phone is now means the PC is much more likely to be the place gamers go to.

 

And you'd be massively wrong about people running mods, almost every PC game has them and most people run them. If you think about the numbers of people playing games like WoW or Minecraft where there are thousands and thousands of mods that improve the way a game plays and that change the user experience in small subtle ways and the fact the game is customisable to the way you prefer to play and at your whim and then start telling me modding is some secret black art people don't use. There's already mods for GTA V, DAYZ is the most successful pre-release game of all time and only exists because someone created a mod for a fairly terrible FPS army RPG in Arma.The Multi-player mod created by fans for Just Cause two caused the game to leap into the top ten most purchased games years after the game was released and had stopped being updated.

Modding is business these days.