Comments on: Mixing it up – Changing aspects

By: nick

nick — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:28:54 +0000

thats the most frustrating part about it though, the industry has pretty much been balanced!
sure there were more popular genres, but no genre had the stranglehold shooters do this gen!
think about it, ps2 we had heaps of horror games, heaps of shooters, heaps of racers, heaps of action games, heaps of RPGs, heaps of adventure games, heaps of puzzle games, heaps of stratergy games, heaps of stealth games, ect, ect.
ps1 was probably the most cluttered with so many platformers, but that was because of the systems limitations it was REALLY hard to do things like shooters or games like spyro/ digemon.
this gen really is the only gen where 1 genre saturates it as much as it does!
and only gen really where genres have gone completely extinct!

By: benzo

benzo — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 12:31:22 +0000

A change is needed in the industry and in gamers. Gamers get caught up in a “fad” every generation and publishers line up to copy it, or at least attempt. That why we have so many FPS and not enough ARPGs or hybrid games like Deus Ex and Borderlands. When publishers/developers do take risks,they often times fail because games are unwilling to put their support around an unknown developer or a new IP. The trend last gen,in my opinion,was rhythm games like Guitar Hero. Now we have the freaking FPS/CoD thing. While I do play FPS, I will also throw my $$$ in to support a new IP like Amalur…sorry I keep bringing that up but still pissed about how things went down. Next gen I want to see more RPGs and less FPS.

By: nick

nick — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 10:10:23 +0000

im not sure which is more to blame.
the market interest changing.
or publishers willingness to take risks.
id say its more of the former than the latter.
it just seems that there was a HELL of allot more people wanting horror games, i mean when was the last time you heard someone say x ps1 game was too scary?
people have just become wimps!
and the decline of the HARDCORE games too!
games that were seriously difficult like the early ninja gaiden games, RE, all your survival horror, MGS, all your stealth games.
i think its because the general gamer has become allot more what i like to call michael bay syndrome!
they have to have big flashy graphics and massive explosions to keep their attention span for more than 3 seconds!
its defiantly a little of both, publishers willingness to say ok this is a new genre, we dont know how it will sell, but lets do it anyway full steam ahead!
they seem to be more like ok thats a little too uncertain, lets wait till we have a few other titles to gauge response on.
but when it comes down to it publishers willing to take risks is irrelevant!
because if we had a wide range of gamers covering all genres not just your mindless shooters than publishers would not be a issue!
there only a issue when a genre is not selling well, so fix that, bring in some fans and some cash, than boom problem solved!
so at the end of the day the sad inconvenient truth we have no one but ourselves to blame for the recent saturation of the mindless shooter!

By: Ernice Gilbert

Ernice Gilbert — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 09:51:01 +0000

On topic, I do think we need some diversity, but I believe the lack of diversity is caused by gamers to a degree. I say this because shooters sell the most. In fact it seems as if nothing will sell if it’s not done in the first-person… Games are very expensive to develop and publishers are very careful when putting say, $20 million behind a game….
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But do with need to change things up a bit? Definitely so.

By: Ernice Gilbert

Ernice Gilbert — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 09:49:08 +0000

Nice read! Love the diversity these types of pieces bring to the site. Keep it up.

By: Stephen Chapman

Stephen Chapman — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 23:37:35 +0000

Wow! Thank you so much for the kind words, I’ll keep this kind of article up if this is what the people want. Thank you again for your comments they are always much appreciated.

By: Wolf1888

Wolf1888 — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 22:49:53 +0000

Wow man I really love your articles!
They’re not news, they’re paths of reflexion, and I love that.
I totally agree with what you say, and I can’t wait for your next article, they are a pleasure to read, honestly.

By: Martin Zamora

Martin Zamora — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 22:35:32 +0000

I agree with you on there being little change in the industry, specifically shooters, at the moment, I personally think it’s due to industries not wanting to take any risks with games that go out of the predetermined (military shooter) formula that seems to dominate the market. In other words, I think most developers are asking themselves why reinvent the wheel at the risk of a flop? Most of the games who exit this paradigm seem to meet limited-to-no success (RAGE, Bulletstorm, Resistance 3), while a select few of them meet grand success (like Borderlands). This argument could probably extend to other genres. Shooters and MMO games need an injection in my opinion.

I hope that with the new generation of consoles incoming, developers will be willing to take risks again.

As for a great title that seems to be trying to change things in MMOs, check out Survarium by Vostok Games.