Hello all,

I posted this thread a loooooooooooooooooong time ago, and just wanted to get some impressions, six months laters(approximately :)

With the recent holidays season, we have had more high profile titles than ever before, and with that, more flops. Games like Gears 2 and resistance 2 come out with some amazing appeal, but at the same time, games like NFS underground come out and bring down the entire value of gaming. Even then, the best games have all been sequels for the most part, with the exception of a fee titles( like Dead space), so there is very little originality. We have had numerous closures and mergers and talks of gaming companies, even the huge conglomerates, laying off talented developers to save costs, and their asses. What was once the biggest companies, are now stumbling to stay afloat. What will the future hold for our gaming industry. I am actually in a situation where I may retract my previous statement that the industry will CRASH intirely, but there will be some drastic changes, and who knows what willhappen. Any thoughts?

Definitely, this is some very valid points, we ae a well informed group of people, and the wealth of info at our fingertips is outstanding, but I want to give 1 example of something....

I did some quick checking. According to gamerankings, there is approximately 249games for the wii in North America,and only 38 of those had a rating over 7.5(I know, I have too much time on my hands, and I do right now)

Now being the knowledgable people we are, we would not buy these games because when you open the case, you get a whiff of the crap that has been etched into the disc LOL, anywayz, that leaves a whopping 211 games that are crappy titles. There is 2 possible scenarios to this.

1.We, being the knowledgable people we are, do not buy these titles. The game developers lose alot of money and, eventually, go bankrupt.(after a few years, hence my long term prediction)

2.People buy these games blindly in hopes of them being good titles. Developers make money, and figure, hey since we made this low budget title and people bought it, lets make more. But eventually, people will say, wait, Im spending all this money, and the crap keeps coming, let me take my money elsewere.(this is, in my opinion, what is happening right now)

But, as stated, it is only my opinion, and trust me, the last thing I want is a downswing or crash, I have no idea what i would do with my time :)

True, true, we are definitely not the same industry we were some 20 yrs ago, but I am noticing alot of the same trends being repeated. The problem I also see, is that this is the only media not fully "accepted" by the world. Its a constant scapegoat for politicians and parents alike, and as such it has alot more weighted against it. I actually loved the idea of thewii bringing gaming to the everyman and everywoman, but if they keep putting out these titles, the "mainstream" people we have aquired will just fall away like flies, amd we could potentially return to a niche product. And alot ofgamers I have talked to feel that games are becoming stale(although some also disagree with my crash theory), and let face it, it is. How many sim racers, fps, third person or rpgs can we play that are all almost identical. gran turismo=forza, gears=dark sector( i know ds is not nearly as good, but so many of the mechanics are ripped of gears), juiced=nfs, and there is a large portion of games that i have played, even just recently, that feel all too familiar, and then there is the sequels. If the game industry doesnot crash as I "predicted", they are going to have to go through a major restructuring if they are to keep putting out quality for us, not just quantity.

As for hollywood not crashing, that is true. Its a little known fact that hollywood has been close to "bankruptcy" for some time now. What has kept them up? Investors. Lots of them(ever notice how the executive producers and producers list has grown to sometimes list 10-12 names on top of the studios?) But these investors are starting to pull out. That is why these is a sudden influx of low or moderately budgeted movies appearing. And they are still bombing, but at least the companies are staying afloat, at least for the time being. I dont know if the gaming industry will follow suite or not? But only time will tell.....

Actually, thats a perfect example. Tv shows barely make it to their first season these days, some dont even make it past a few episodes. But tv is a tricky business.

The big one is the movies. With the exception of last year, where we had a huge amount of high profile titles released, the industry was able to just BREAK EVEN. Alot of people have already forgotten, but the 3 yr prior to last(2004, 05, 06) saw hollywood scramble to try to make ends meet, as they were releasing high profile titles, with high profile, but with low quality, and the industry was, and still is dying. Why? no one will go to see a crappy picture, and they wont pay for a crappy game. This year, where we are quickly approaching May and mid yr, hollywood has only had 2 WEEKS were it surpassed last year. And one week was last, where they had Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Forbidden Kingdom, and 88 mins released. 3 HIGH PROFILE TITLES, and they barely surpassed last yr.(13%) And, as I mentioned, ast year they were only able to barely break even, turning an overall small profit when factoring in losses vs revenue. The thing is, your right, people do know the difference between crap and greatness, and thats what caused the crash to begin with. Companies spend money to make these games, and if they dont turn profit, well, i dont need to mention what would happen.

If you want, you can reference this link below about the movies.

http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2008-04-21 Its the first article, although if you search through IMDB,and the net, you will find that hollywood, is worried, they have alot riding on this summer.....