BombermanBoard

DragonBomber · #19 Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 1:40 pm

Again, it's not all Nintendo's/Sony's/Microsoft's fault that there is a ton of uninspired software. Developers are the ones to blame in part. They need to get the so-called seal of approval yes, but unless there are obvious problems with the content it probably will get stamped so that the consumers can make the decision.

So, let's look at this another way. If Nintendo is only pushing this, and Sony that, and Microsoft that or this, it is in part due to the market trends and buying patterns of the consumer base that support the software cycle. Hardware gets sold for a loss. They have to make their money on software. So, when Joe Q. Public and all his zany friends buy a ton of gimmicky software, what happens? Of course. Developer A and Developer B full throttle production of similar gimmicky software, with maybe some Developer Z going out on a limb to make something different. This continues over and over and over like our blood pumping around our body. It's also a self-defeating cycle at times. The more gimmicky and uninspired titles that come out and are bought, and inspire more of the same, the more the shovelware floods the market. This gives consumers pretty obvious choices if they want to game at all, since Kid A and Kid B taken to Box Store A and told by their parents they get to choose 1 game only, will have to accept whatever is there or possibly not get a game. Some buyers are more patient but they very well might be buying the games at a discount when clearance starts to hit. This probably still inflates the perception that the games sold well, and thus, we need more of them.

Simplistic view of the situation, but a fairer one. Every videogame company involved in this industry makes choices that further affect the landscape of the future of gaming. This gimmicky phase of WiiMote-controlled casual gaming might be just what the industry needed to keep itself going, and allow more innovation to find the market. Sales would have slumped and more development houses gone under were it not for the successes of misc types of software, and strengths of certain hardware in the retail markets, both sides of the coin filling different needs of different types of consumers. The seals of quality from Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft all help keeping the real shovelware out of the stores.

Does anyone remember or read about the big videogame crash that happened in the 80s? Way too many games on the shelves, because at that time Atari just let everyone throw whatever pile of dung they wanted onto the machine. Some were obvious clones and ripoffs of other titles, and then you had licensed cheaper versions of Atari-developed titles (the Sears Telegames versions). Plus you had all the different consoles biting into each other's faces, angry zombies just wanting some piece of the meat of consumer spending. Plus you had the emerging home computer market with their own breed of computer games that were still pretty similar to console games control wise.

You all are witnessing a piece of history. Some day, little kids riding laser skateboards while they do their schoolwork via some weird pair of goggles will know nothing of the fact of how their gaming innovations started here. Mario in the future might well be some beatnik hep cat in a beret telling kids the proper societal laws, as he jumps around using his magic finger snap attack to "chill out" rabid turtles. It could happen...