"Yf they say the mone is blewe
We must believe that it is true." – Shakespeare
The saying goes: "once in a blue moon". And this best describes the future of PC Gaming. A hobby that produces originality every so... if Lady Luck is present... often. The two latest masterpieces, Battlefield 2 and GTA:San Andreas, are barely inventions at all, but are sequels with polish and jazz. Actually not jazz literally, but rap music and Gershwin tunes.
How 'bout you?
These grand games of 2005 are set to cause the long slide in PC gaming to hasten. Will the suits try to best their efforts in 2006? Why buy yesterday’s news? Of course there is the "fan" who buys in niches. By definition a niche does not a whole industry make.
This can be repeated: a niche is not a whole hobby.
So, back to the grand ‘ole games: GTA:SA and Battlefield 2. Both are cross-genre and fill the following niches: RPG, action, FPS, and strategy. So, why on Kobol would anyone buy a cheap parody in 2006? I suggest the answer is no; and our once popular hobby is now heading for a permanent residence in the bargain bin. And the answer for the suits selling another iteration of "snake oil"? Faux-paux on you.
Lorax, please suggest a genre that has never been made before. I'm just curious, since I can't think of one myself. I'm guessing that pretty much anything anyone could come up with is going to fit into or contain parts of existing genres.
And I'll be the first to admit that I could certainly be wrong. I have been taken completely by surprise by a few games before, but that was long ago. And I'll also add that the gaming industry contains the potential for creating just about anything you'd want to create.
So, if you had your druthers, what would you like to see made?
"I've been fighting with reality for over thirty-five years, and I'm happy to say that I finally won out over it." -- Elwood P. Dowd
lorax wrote:I suggest the answer is no; and our once popular hobby is now heading for a permanent residence in the bargain bin.
Our "once popular hobby" was never all that popular. Sure, there was a lot of innovation as the gaming industry developed, but consoles have ruled the roost for years now.
As for bargain bins, don't expect it. The financial returns from PC game development pale in comparison to consoles. That's the facts. PC game development is dwindling. Sure, there will always be niche titles and console ports, but don't expect more than one or two non-sequel PC-only A-level titles per year.
Wring your hands, gnash your teeth, do whatever. But PC gaming is dead threads have been around since the Sony Playstation.
Rich in KCK wrote: Do you not realize we already know that PC developers and publishers like to produce sequels.
Do you not realize there are still other games out there that are different if you search for them.
You should also mention that popular games beget sequels, and over the years, successful franchise start accumulating, leaving a high number of sequels in the channel.
If an original game is successful today, then for years to come it will leave a string of sequels. That's part of what it means to be a success.
