The downmarket, labeled retarded gaming, i.e. casual gaming, has and will always exist. It is the foundation for all gaming, the bottom layers of the pyramid. We do know that upmarket gaming, labeled sophisticated gaming, i.e. hardcore gaming, is overshooting the market.
What happens when you overshoot the market? It crashes.
Next time you hear ‘Casual Gaming on the rise…’, is it really rising or is the overshot upmarket, the hardcore gaming, crashing before our eyes? Do you really think any game will surpass GTA IV’s 100 million budget this generation? These games have reached their peak and, like a pendulum, are fast swinging the other way.
Downmarket, i.e. ‘Casual gaming’, was never the fad. The overshot upmarket, i.e. ‘Hardcore gaming’, THAT was the fad! It is that very uppity upmarket hardcore gaming that will go the way of the beanie baby. Decades from now, we will look back at such games like GTA IV and MGS 4 with a strange curiosity.
It is a slow crash. But it is clear that the uppity hardcore market is rapidly crumbling. Games cannot go beyond what people need them to be.
I’m confused here… you’re supposed to be on a sabbatical yet still take the time to make multiple news posts a day? do i just not know the proper definition of sabbatical?
By: Cory Robinson on June 21, 2008
at 9:32 pm
He’s on sabbatical from the main site.
By: Nick on June 21, 2008
at 9:36 pm
And don’t make him stop writing! He’s genius.
By: Nick on June 21, 2008
at 9:37 pm
This is the end of the videogaming world as we knew it..and I feel fine ^^
By: Bob on June 21, 2008
at 9:53 pm
“Games cannot go beyond what people need them to be.”
But what if people still like this kind of games? I imagine, if all this is true and we we’ll not see games like MGS4 in a long time, there will be a market that wants this kind of games and will not be satisfied.
I don’t want every game to be like a movie, but I don’t want this games to disappear. Having variety is very important, and I hope Nintendo delivers some cinemtatic experiences too.
By: Soma on June 21, 2008
at 10:14 pm
“But what if people still like this kind of games? I imagine, if all this is true and we we’ll not see games like MGS4 in a long time, there will be a market that wants this kind of games and will not be satisfied.”
Expansion does not mean replacement. I just mean there will be less of these games and a greater variety. Zeldas will still be huge. There will just be more types of games. Think about it though, did elaborate RPGs die with the Commodore 64 and other gaming computers? No they eventually came to the NES. Upstreaming will take care of this. I hope Malstrom corrects me if I’m wrong. But I really think that these games will still exist just not as the focus of the industry.
By: James on June 21, 2008
at 10:23 pm
Yeah, that’s the same I think, variety is important.
I was confused because of this:
“Decades from now, we will look back at such games like GTA IV and MGS 4 with a strange curiosity.”
Maybe he was exageratting :p or talking about the 100 million budget games…?
By: Soma on June 21, 2008
at 10:41 pm
Probably the 100 million budget games. I think some games maybe as long but i doubt any will have the same budget.
By: James on June 21, 2008
at 10:49 pm
Lets just wait to see what Malstrom says regarding this before jumping to conclusions though.
By: James on June 21, 2008
at 10:50 pm
These games require a lot of resources, once they give way to games that truly meet the market’s needs they’ll disappear from the spectrum.
Honestly I’d rather watch a movie, I used to think cinematic gaming was cool but I was really just attracted to the concept of it, in practical terms it’s not cool at all, and it takes a lot of time out of you.
If I want real story I’ll get it elsewhere, a real movie with full actors who will fulfill my cinematic entertainment needs in two hours or less. In a truly cinematic game(not Zelda) it only feels like a delayed film experience, as if you’re cheating game aspects with movie aspects, or vice versa. Waiting for the movie to continue or the game to start. A little story can be good but I think games like Zelda were never as story based as some of the PlayStation-era games were, those are the ones which I think will eventually not be made anymore.
By: Azelover on June 22, 2008
at 4:31 pm
I can smell your fear.
Yep, that’s the problem of disruption. Some people will get out of the way.
The Cinematic kind of games will not die, they will just adaptated for the new era. But, the games like MGS4, which are supposed to be art before a product, will die. I hope painfully. No, seriously, I like cinematic games too, but I had to install 4 times the game just because the developer think the machine was better and wasn’t… A little respect for the player, please! I know, it’s fine if the game was good enough. I hope MGS4 is. But I hope anyway this kind of stuff will be punished. Someday…
By: GinnyN on June 23, 2008
at 12:00 am
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/spector-100-hour-games-are-on-the-way-out
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/games-will-be-differentiated-by-input-controllers-says-st-john
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=18760
Cinema games are entering a ’swan song’. But don’t feel bad. It is natural for what was popular in the industry one day to be replaced by something else. Nothing lasts forever. I was unhappy when arcade gameplay got replaced by cinematic gameplay due to how awesome arcade gameplay is, so I sympathize.
@Cory
Blogging is so light, so simple, that it is a break. Although my schedule will be far more erratic. I might disappear for a week or so.
Writing never ends on the articles. The sooner they are written, the sooner I can retire!
By: seanmalstrom on June 23, 2008
at 4:03 am