The Gaming Industry from my POV - Complex's Blog

Complex's Blog

The Gaming Industry from my POV

Posted on August 22, 2010 at 01:14 PM.

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I have enjoyed gaming since the days of Odyssey 2000, Atari 2600, and Colecovision. I have seen it evolve to the point where folks walk by my screen and wonder if I am watching an actual tv broadcast or playing a game. The controllers have gone from long sticks with one button to mini-devices that look like they belong on a sophisticated stealth bomber.

But lately, the gaming industry has hit a snag. It seems creativity is at a standstill and the industry is not listening to gamers anymore. Don't get me wrong, we have had some awesome games lately, and the genre of many has been pushed forward. It�s just that overall the industry has hit a down cycle. The lackluster sales of titles like Madden or the low ratings of highly touted games tells me that gamers are looking for better value from the industry. I have a few thoughts on things:

Cost
The cost of games (especially during this recession) is too high. $60 in an economy where the average wage of citizens has stayed flat at best needs to be adjusted. Many gamers are looking at alternatives such as renting and waiting 6 months to purchase new titles until the price is dropped. I think more titles would be sold if the standard price of games was simply dropped $10 and stayed there . I know companies have to pay staff and pay for technology overall, but companies need to become more focused on reducing cost and passing that cost on to consumers.

Value
Somehow the industry has seen many games offer 15 hours of gameplay or less. This I do not get at all. Some companies have always delivered this and make it a point to continue to do so, but lately I have seen many games get released that can be completed in an afternoon. I always wondered how a developer can release a title at full price with such a limited value to the end user.

DLC
When I heard about DLC in the industry, I was very excited. I thought this would be an intuitive way for gamers to have updates to their titles as well as be offered new content that would extend gameplay. In many ways this did happen and gamers were the recipient of new features that were greeted with praise. However, that trend has seen an unusual turn. It feels like many games are released with the intention of being limited in the effort of offering DLC later at a price. Things that used to be staples of the industry are not offered in packs that you can get at a price. And much of the content is simple things like character skins and color weapons. It just feels like the industry is looking for ways to get that extra $10 out of us.

Thoughts?

Comments

# 1 Dazraz @ Aug 22

I doubt the cost of games will see any reduction. In fact an increase is more probable. Sadly development costs are high & if sales continue to fall then the only way a company can recoup it's expenditure is to increase prices.
Developers know that there is a certain segment of the consumer market that will be willing to buy their product almost irrespective of the cost (within reason obviously). However a reduction in cost will not necessarily see a significant increase in sales.

# 2 DGMikeBarker @ Aug 22

Nice article. The value section is probably do to companies moving more toward online than offline. And I agreed totally with the DLC section.

# 3 Complex @ Aug 22

I think the idea that cost can not be reduced is a myth. Many major corporations have reduced cost of products and services. The company that can deliver good games and reduce cost will be the one that thrives.

# 4 doovid184 @ Aug 22

Extra DLC content is a great way to increase the replayability of a game but what i dont like is DLC that costs money when it could have been put on the disk at little or no cost to the company. If they lowered game prices to $50 then i could justify buying DLC but when i'm already spending so much on the game i'd rather put the money toward a whole different game.

# 5 bgeno @ Aug 22

A one-time, $60 buy for what can be months of entertainment (especially on a game with good online multi-player) is a steal in this economy, I think. Think of similar alternatives: A family of four to the movies is at least 30 for tickets, plus popcorn, candy, etc. Also, that cost is PER TRIP to the movies. A video game is one purchase.

# 6 shadthedad @ Aug 25

@beg no
That's true, but a ton of gamers are kids/ teens and would never weigh out the option of family movie night vs Halo Reach. I envision our video game future as having the most mainstream/****** gameplay imaginable and giving the core gamers the option to buy extra features through down loaded expansion packs....So I guess the future is now.