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DeathevokatioN

5 Reasons the Video Game Industry is about to crash - article

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Another stupid article by some twat that equates a limited part of the game development industry to mean the entire industry. Stupid conclusions ensue. The video game industry is nowhere near going into a 1983 crash. It's just stupid to think so. But the triple A industry as it is right now is certainly digging itself deeper like some suicidal ostrich. But all that will happen is really that gamers will turn their attention away from the things that no longer interests them and focus on the games that do. The fruits of smaller development studios that make games like Minecraft, Terraria, Bastion or whatever else might tickle your fancy (if you can think of it, chances are that there's a game like it out there for you). There's a rich and diverse game industry out there but there's so many people that seem to want to pretend that triple-A releases is the only games that counts. Even though those games aren't even targeted at gamers anymore. They're more like interactive movies without failstates in most cases.

The games industry is bound to change, and a lot of companies are likely to go belly up in the turmoil. But that's how things go when stupid business strategies reach their tipping point.

EDIT, ironically this guy has recently become an indie dev himself. Doesn't he consider his work worthy of being part of the games industry?

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Nah, it's as asinine as saying the movie industry is going to crash. Yes, like film, games have gotten extremely dumb, short, and scripted, but it's entertainment that appeals to most general audiences, the majority.

The only real industry that has failed is the music industry, but despite hem whining about piracy, it's simply becasue the technology available to make a competent rock song in your own home is cheap and effective. Today's games and films still require millions to produce effectively.

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Technician said:

Nah, it's as asinine as saying the movie industry is going to crash. Yes, like film, games have gotten extremely dumb, short, and scripted, but it's entertainment that appeals to most general audiences, the majority.


And that says a lot about the majority of gamers. I don't want to see a major crash. Just companies such as Activision and EA to be cut off at the knees.

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People who own gaming computers have more disposable income than ever before. There's no reason to think the process will break.

Of course the industry is corrupt and stale. That doesn't mean they will stop selling new titles.

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In order of each section:

5.) Sure, some of the big publishers seem to be unable to discern their heads from a hole in the ground, but outside of, say, EA and Activision, basically everyone else is on the ball. That's not even considering the huge success smaller publishers like Paradox are getting these days.

4.) The Indy game industry is working proof this is bullshit. Crowd sourcing has only made the Indy route even more viable the last couple years.

3.) People read reviews anymore? Besides, I knew reviews were being bought even when EGM was a thing. I think this is news to exactly no one.

2.) I haven't bought a game in ten years that I've regretted purchasing (ok, fine, I bought DNF, but I did it for the collectors items don't judge me). It's really not that hard to do research beyond watching trailers and reading Gamespot for their shitty bought reviews. Anyone ever heard of "word of mouth?"

1.) See #4. Crowd sourcing has made it insanely easy for Indy studios to comfortably make games that people want on their own time. Sure, there will always be some sort of crunch time where they have to buckle down and work 16+ hour days to put the final touches on something that the people working on will never consider finished in the first place, but that's just the nature of art period.

Cracked is renowned for not doing the best research on things, but this article is embarrassing.

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Probably affects bigger and more known (like EA) companies. Few good tidbits, mostly bullshit on whole.

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Nomad said:

Cracked is renowned for not doing the best research on things, but this article is embarrassing.

Everything Cracked does is embarrassing.

This what happens when you take a cartoon parody magazine and turn it into a social soapbox.

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Gonna jump on the calling this bunk bandwagon: Gaming is no longer a niche industry / activity. Put briefly: Short of WWIII, people will not ever stop playing video games. If AAA pubs/devs start dropping, then others will fill the void almost instantly, for the simple reason that people will continue buying and playing games.

I don't even foresee a mass migration from AAA-to-indie gaming. AAA will be just fine. If gamers' tastes enure to AAA offerings, these pubs will perish and be replaced, or adapt and survive.

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The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 herald a new era in gaming. Shortly after, someone predicts a video game crash.

I can't think of a clever comment to emphasise the sarcasm.

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Yeah I like Cracked too, but a comedy site shouldn't be bashed for 'predictions.' I'm shocked no one has made a joke article on why the 'Let's Play Video Game Industry is about to crash.'

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MajorRawne said:

The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 herald a new era in gaming. Shortly after, someone predicts a video game crash.

I can't think of a clever comment to emphasise the sarcasm.


PS4 and XBone sold about 4 million units combine. The hilarity is the difference in marketing budgets. I'm not sure how much XBone spent on marketing, but for every 25+ XBone console and games commercials that I've seen on television, I see about one for a PS4 game or console. PS4 has taken off in Europe just like the PS3 did.

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Technician said:

This what happens when you take a cartoon parody magazine and turn it into a social soapbox.


This. So much.

I used to love cracked when it was all about funny and whacky articles on wierd video games and japanese porn, but then for some reason it decided to trade in its funny humor articles for whiny social commentary for brainless liberals.

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geo said:

Yeah I like Cracked too, but a comedy site shouldn't be bashed for 'predictions.' I'm shocked no one has made a joke article on why the 'Let's Play Video Game Industry is about to crash.'


Actually, that idea doesn't seem so far-fetched.

hardcore_gamer said:

This. So much.

I used to love cracked when it was all about funny and whacky articles on wierd video games and japanese porn, but then for some reason it decided to trade in its funny humor articles for whiny social commentary for brainless liberals.

I'm pretty sure the fact it was all whiny WAS the joke.

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Hey, look! It's time for Cracked's once per console generation "The video game industry is about to crash!" article... except that article I linked to is actually good.

Certainly the evidence that's mentioned in this week's article is questionable at best as to whether or not it will make the industry crash. In some cases, it's likely even helping the industry. Take #5 for instance. Is this guy really trying to suggest that it's not important that there's a market for your game before making it? Having an existing market for people who will buy your game without a great deal of convincing is vital.

If you want a good example of this, look no further than movies. Some of most wildly popular movies recently are based on books, like Harry Potter and more recently The Hunger Games. Are the movies themselves great enough to warrant huge box office numbers? Probably not, but they're based on popular books that have been read by tons of people, many of whom will go see the movies. Because studios know they'll be big money makers, production values go way up and they get a lot of extremely talented people working on them.

These movies didn't succeed because of some brilliant design decisions by the filmmakers - they succeeded because some suit said "These books made a ton of money! Make a movie out of it and don't fuck it up!"

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kristus said:

There's a rich and diverse game industry out there but there's so many people that seem to want to pretend that triple-A releases is the only games that counts. Even though those games aren't even targeted at gamers anymore. They're more like interactive movies without failstates in most cases.

It should be obvious that by the industry he was referring to the AAA industry crashing in the first place. And a "crash" in the industry doesn't necessarily mean that the gaming industry dies, in this case I think it'll mean a return to grassroots with kickstarters and smaller companies who are passionate about their work.

There definitely is some good stuff coming out, like Dark Souls and Project Eternity. I still want a fast paced atmospheric sci fi shooter with vast surreal gothic landscapes inspired by Unreal, Heretic and Doom to come out.

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Technician said:

Everything Cracked does is embarrassing.

This what happens when you take a cartoon parody magazine and turn it into a social soapbox.

There was a time when their articles were informative, but that time has long passed, save for a few writers. Now they simply use the approach that so many other magazines and sites do: "You're an idiot! Here, let us show you the way to think!" (spoiler: I absolutely hate that "style" of writing). That and letting pretty much anyone submit articles to the site has led to a lot of subjective and/or alarmist horse-shit being passed off as truth (hence your soap-box analogy).

I haven't read the site in months for these reasons, and I probably never will again.

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I still read cracked all the time. I think it's fun.

EDIT: the story linked is wrong though.

Double edit: The jury is still out on the future of consoles.

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I think on of the biggest problems with cracked is that it has run out of lists.

So many of their best articles have basically been some kind of "top 5 crazy/funny/wierd whatever", so it was just a matter of time before they ran out of funny lists to make.

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#5. We Put People Who Don't Know Gaming in Charge

As opposed to when?

#4. Budgets Have Gone Insane, and That's Making Innovation Almost Impossible

Only in AAA development. I can still design a game and only spend time.

#3. Publishers Are Gaming the Review System

No shit. Doesn't mean a crash is imminent, just that people will migrate to another "trusted" source for info.

#2. You're Always Flying Blind

lol consoles
lol gameplay videos
lol common sense

#1. The Industry Is Extremely Exploitative, and It's Driving Away Talent

As opposed to what industry?

This article is garbage, the writer is an idiot, and fuck Cracked and their content-aggregating brethren. I can't believe I just gave them a pageview.

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Cracked publishers usually change titles of articles received from authors so they seem more grandiose. The whole "industry about to crash" is just them taking the piss on all serious overanalysators.

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Technician said:

The only real industry that has failed is the music industry, but despite hem whining about piracy, it's simply becasue the technology available to make a competent rock song in your own home is cheap and effective. Today's games and films still require millions to produce effectively.


While I'm the first person to jump on a soapbox and mouth off about how utterly boring, predictable and sedated the majority of modern music has become, to say that the music industry has failed is a dramatic overstatement. Chart toppers are finding themselves raking in cash from merch and tours, not to mention iTunes sales. Radio music culture is being sold to us like it's going out of style, and everyone's falling for it. Then you have indie artists, who can strike gold from a YouTube viral video.

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