I don't need no stinkin' Viagra!!! 

"I got a rocket in my pocket
But I don�t know what to do
Like a plug without a socket
I�m just waitin� �round for you"

Devo 

...not kidding either.

this was also without drugs. Daaamn did I have to pee after that night. 

Geez, haven't been keeping up with func_ for a few days and now I'm behind.

I think what I would most like to see in a game review is if you liked blah aspect of blah game you would like this, and is you hated blah aspect of blah game you'll hate this. Solve for blahs using well known standards. 

I'm not into consoles much except for a few PS1 games, but this is a game coming out for X-Box 360 --

http://games.tiscali.cz/clanek/screen.asp?id=8921

Rather nice in the fine details. 

Pretty boring ones at that. Well, I guess it'll be interesting to see how much of that geometry can be handled by the new consoles.




Oh wait, no it won't. 

I wish people would realise that it's all well and good have the power to render 500 billion anti aliased polygons a second with realistic physics, but what the fuck is the point when the world your artists have "realised" is so fucking hum drum that the player would rather watch their dog lick its balls.

You can create amazing worlds with current tech, but hardly anyone has the skill or budget to do it. I worry about what the next gen will do to this industry. Oh, and by "amazing worlds" I don't mean "a realistic-ish looking city with hardly anyone or anything in it other than the gun-toting character you will control and the equally gun-toting characters (most likely) he or she will shoot the living crap out of."

-than, who is fed up of generic me too shit games 

 

The games industry had a crash in the 80's because the majority of developers were too concerned about cranking out games that showed off what they could do than actually making original and fun games.

Sound familiar?


http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/games/crash.html 

Looks like he is mainly looking at the console gamers there. I don't know what its like over in the states, but here in sweden, playing a game usually means you play it online, at least if its on a computer, and consoles aren't that big here.

But from my trips to america, it seems like alot of the players are playing console games, especially the shitty cheap EA-game variety, like True Crime and NFL Street.

Thank the great old ones for quake, and all the other wunderbar games I play online and alone. I think, since PC is so easy to warez for, more people need to buy the singleplayer games they like, so the game developers recognise it as a very profitable platform evenf or SP games.

Maybe gaming is on the way down, I guess I'll start playing sports or something when it dies :D 

thanks for the link Lunaran, that was a good read. The writer doesn't seem to suggest any solutions to the problems he sees though, maybe he's expecting another 'crash' like the one he talked about earlier.

I don't see that happening though, the all-in-one nature of the new consoles and mega-marketing will make sure of that. Hell, even i'm excited about these new consoles... I think i just want a new shiny piece of sexy electronic kit. 

I haven't been to the movies in ages...because I have to drive 30 miles and pay 25$ parking fees to see a good one (in the big city)

The shit that comes out at the theatres around here is that generic Hollywood BS (I, Robot: 2 "I Harder")(or whatever) that I would be angry to pay 10$ for. The movie industry takes absolutely no risks, and as such, we have the same bland, horrible movies every year.

PC Gaming is following in the same direction BUT the big difference is that for 50$, I'll have not just a game, but a platform for developing mods, levels, textures, etc. The PC game industry is surviving on the fact that our gamers are smart, creative people who, not unlike the Native Americans who had 100019229 purposes for the buffalo, know how to get the most from the things we consume.

Console gaming will never crash as long as they maintain those prices and advertise they way they are now -- kids will always want to have the latest Madden or Halo or whatever just to say that they have it. It's a good marketing strategy that plays upon the widening class systems all over the world -- "HAHA I CAN BUY THIS BUT YOU CAN'T"

Finally, to throw an insane conspiracy theory out there for all of you, I simply believe that people are being dumbed down, and they don't really discriminate between what is fun and what is killing time. Madden 2009 vs Capcom Heros AHOY! 

*Heroes 

I think, since PC is so easy to warez for, more people need to buy the singleplayer games they like, so the game developers recognise it as a very profitable platform evenf or SP games.

People don't buy PC games because the mass market, the glorious land of milk and honey and large profits, doesn't keep up with technology required/doesn't want to deal with something they have to install to play/don't have the knowledge to get PC games working when their system is at fault. On the other hand, the mass market scoops up consoles and games for them because it's brain fucking dead easy to 1) buy console. 2)plug in console. 3)buy game 4) play game.

PCs as a gaming platform is going to slow down even more before it gets better. All your favorite devs are waking up and reliezing they're more likely to lose their hats making games for such a limited market which demands so much than if they spend that same money to make a console game that will sell 50 times the copies. 

Not enough undead in this thread.
http://65.127.124.62/south_asia/4483241.stm.htm 

 

The games industry didn't crash in the 80s because Atari employees ran out of ideas. It crashed because Atari started rushing games faster and faster which demands not using original ideas. *cough* EA *cough* New movies keep comming out after decads. New books keep comming out after centuries. Why innovation will suddenly stop so quickly in an interactive medium is beyond me. 

Why innovation will suddenly stop so quickly in an interactive medium is beyond me.

*cough* EA *cough*

You provided my own argument for me. Innovation won't stop, but is there enough to sustain the business model as is? Yeah, new movies keep coming out - really awesome movies like The Matrix: Revolutions and Catwoman.

Publishers are caring more about milking IP than experimenting with new gameplay because games are becoming such a massive investment to make now - the tried and true is safer on the bottom line than the unproven when you've gotta pay forty artists for three years, so aside from occasional gems it's all we're going to get unless the market (us) starts demanding more Quakes and less Quake 3 Arenas.

Also, I am aware of how cynical I am. 

also aware of just how dead sexy you are? 

I am starting to get sick of all these recent articles predicting the imminent death of the games industry.

I'd like to think they're a bunch of clueless wankstains that simply don't realize the massive potential that is there for brilliant, involving, original games... and I think in a way, that's right... however, the sad reality of the matter is, they do have a point.

Because if things keep going as they are, surely we cannot sustain the industry in its current state (who would want to, anyway?) Even Nintendo don't seem to be doing anything new (every new platform just has the same Mario and Zelda games... come on, if you're not going to give us new gameplay, you could at least make a new character or something!)

Of course, what most gamers unfortunately don't realise (unless they work for a game developer), is that there is plenty of potential for new game ideas and designs... it is just potential that will never be realised within the current developer/publisher model.

New, creative, innovative games simply cannot happen because publishers will not take a risk on original titles. Its all about guaranteed revenue for their shareholders, so they're going to churn out the next game based on proven IP rather than trying something new.

Most original games designs and ideas will be kept in the bottom drawer until the developers can secure alternative funding for the projects (which might be never). 

waluigi 

Frib: right.

Pope: unfortunately it's my best kept secret. :( 

Yes. Except Viewtiful Joe and Killer 7. Killer 7 has yet to materialize, though. 

...both by Capcom, who can afford to take a few risks at making a new franchise they'll beat into the ground while making Street Fighter Alpha Omega Turbo 2, Megaman 35, and Resident Evil 71 1/2. 

Over and over and over...