Got an email back from "Interplay"

[agent_c]

Brian Fargo - Proof that great developers =/= Great businesspeople
Almost every gaming company today - proof that great businesspeople suck at games.

If your in the games business, and you dont have the publlic profile/reputation of someone like Will Wright, you cant afford to work on "risky" ventures (SimCity and The Sims were very risky, noone knew how the market would take them and could have sucked, luckily for the sims, EA was listening, with Simcity, the Gaming Establishment learned a lesson).

All Ive got to say is get used to Crap games from once great developers. Its all we're going to get., drones and clones, with the occasional diamond in the rough becoming more rare.

The gaming industry has matured, just like we know Planes are all basically going to be the same, Games will be too.

The Only solution I see is the get the true gods of gaming into a room and tell them not to come out until they make the greatest game ever. Will Wright for his Zaniness, Sid Mier for AI, Chris Roberts can do all the Interactive-Movie stuff that Wing Commander Pioneered, A Pitty Douglas Adams cant write the storyline, Roberta Williams can do the puzzles (the hard ones at least)

Feel free to add some more names to my list.

But Im sure of one thing, it would be something like we aint ever seen before.

 

[The Couch Guy]

My little opinion; it's cultural trends.
The same thing that affects ever genre of entertainment, whether its music or movies or games or liturature.

Basically, the gamers of today aren't the same as they were 5 or 10 years ago (and most definitely not the same as the mid-80s). Gamers today didn't watch the personal computer mature, didn't play Dungeon and Dragons (Admit it! You did!) in their basements. The older ones learned about computers because one showed up at their desk at work, the younger ones see them as the thing that let's them go online and find porn.

And game design has changed with them. Today, when you stop the average person on the street and ask them about video games, they're gonna bring up PlayStation and Xbox sooner or later. Have you seen these things?! They got controllers with about forty buttons and shake in your hands and got joysticks and stuff sticking out all over. Obviously, these weren't made with a nicely paced RPG in mind. Nope - they scream ACTION! and button tapping and finger dancing.

And with that action comes lack of game depth. In a society where drugs for ADD or more often perscribed than any other mental problem, you won't find many people who are willing to put endless hours into a game to find all of its little secrets, let alone finish the thing. They want linear. They want directions. And they don't want to open-endedness.

So here you have Interplay, obviously in deep finaniacal trouble, looking for a game thats gonna make some money. So they take Fallout, a name with some background and good praise, put it on an FPS, a genre that sells like hotcakes, make it for the top selling platforms, and let it go.

I'm not saying that the computer isn't a viable platform anymore, and I'm not saying that every other genre is dead. But the majority of games are going to appear that way. Until the PC can outstrip consoles as a truly better platform, you're going to see the games that do well on platforms ported over to the PC. The PC has become the "other" region - those people who get thought about after the game is packaged on the shelf. Like the video rental crowd that missed the movie on the big screen (though DVDs are changing that as well).

But I disagree that it's not going to stop. Its a trend, and trends always change.

 

[The physopathic Polock]

My little opinion; it's cultural trends.
The same thing that affects ever genre of entertainment, whether its music or movies or games or liturature.

Which seems to be saying that, what, there is only a pre-packaged, manufactured culture?

Granted, all cultures are "manufactured", but they are usualy hand-crafted over many, many years.

Basically, the gamers of today aren't the same as they were 5 or 10 years ago (and most definitely not the same as the mid-80s). Gamers today didn't watch the personal computer mature, didn't play Dungeon and Dragons (Admit it! You did!) in their basements. The older ones learned about computers because one showed up at their desk at work, the younger ones see them as the thing that let's them go online and find porn.

I got my first one for Christmas, so many years ago...

And game design has changed with them. Today, when you stop the average person on the street and ask them about video games, they're gonna bring up PlayStation and Xbox sooner or later. Have you seen these things?! They got controllers with about forty buttons and shake in your hands and got joysticks and stuff sticking out all over. Obviously, these weren't made with a nicely paced RPG in mind. Nope - they scream ACTION! and button tapping and finger dancing.

Thats why God designed something these things, called a "keyboard" and a "mouse" respectively, to go along with His other brilant gadget, the "personal computer".

And with that action comes lack of game depth. In a society where drugs for ADD or more often perscribed than any other mental problem, you won't find many people who are willing to put endless hours into a game to find all of its little secrets, let alone finish the thing. They want linear. They want directions. And they don't want to open-endedness.

But not all persons with ADD follow that sterotype of "hyperactive dolts", yet they all do. I have ADD, and I like some games with a slower pace myself.

But I am, admitidely, too lazy to try the other possabilites in these games.

So here you have Interplay, obviously in deep finaniacal trouble, looking for a game thats gonna make some money. So they take Fallout, a name with some background and good praise, put it on an FPS, a genre that sells like hotcakes, make it for the top selling platforms, and let it go.

But there are some problems that could really burst the bubble:

1. The name "Fallout" is unknown to braindead console players.
2. There are much better-looking shooters on the market.

I'm not saying that the computer isn't a viable platform anymore, and I'm not saying that every other genre is dead. But the majority of games are going to appear that way. Until the PC can outstrip consoles as a truly better platform, you're going to see the games that do well on platforms ported over to the PC. The PC has become the "other" region - those people who get thought about after the game is packaged on the shelf. Like the video rental crowd that missed the movie on the big screen (though DVDs are changing that as well).

Yep. Consoles sure are superior to PCs. Abject terror consumes me!

But I disagree that it's not going to stop. Its a trend, and trends always change.

So we're not screwed! This non-existent threat will pass over us!

 

[The Couch Guy]

Which seems to be saying that, what, there is only a pre-packaged, manufactured culture?


Granted, all cultures are "manufactured", but they are usualy hand-crafted over many, many years.

Not at all what I was saying. "Trends" are not pre-packaged, arbitrary releases from some outside source. They are slowly-seeping active formations that originate from certain localized ideas or fads found within society until they permeate popular culture; or, as you put it, "hand-craft" culture.

I got my first one for Christmas, so many years ago...

The first computer I used was an Atari 800, my mother's, when I was 4. What's your point?

My point was that, generally, people over the age of 30 got introduced to computers in their work environment, and their first experience with them at home was either an extension of them from work, or a way to go online and "do" e-mail.

Thats why God designed something these things, called a "keyboard" and a "mouse" respectively, to go along with His other brilant gadget, the "personal computer".

In general, people like to keep their hands closer together, or manipulate things with both hands (on the same thing). This is why such things as keyboards and button pads for consoles were tried, and never became popular. A controller is better suited for action gaming then a keyboard and mouse is, plain and simple.

This creates a sort of self-feeding loop. Action games become popular, things are made to accomadate them, these support action gaming, and more action games are made.

If this hadn't happened, we'd all still be playing Zork.

But not all persons with ADD follow that sterotype of "hyperactive dolts", yet they all do. I have ADD, and I like some games with a slower pace myself.

But I am, admitidely, too lazy to try the other possabilites in these games.

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to make of that. First you say that not all persons follow that stereotype, then you say they do, then you say you don't, then you give an example of how you do.

I'm not saying that having ADD tags you as a hyperactive idiot. My brother has ADD and he's the most intense person I've ever met. But people with ADD have a tendency to find prolonged concentration troubling, and prefer to do things that don't require it.

But there are some problems that could really burst the bubble:

1. The name "Fallout" is unknown to braindead console players.
2. There are much better-looking shooters on the market.

1. Then explain the success of "Prince of Persia:Sands of TIme" on console systems when PoP was PC only for the last 15 years?

2. The screenshots on the internet were taken of a game from a television screen, with alot lower resolution then you're used to seeing on a computer. Besides, I'm not defending FO:BoS as the next big blockbuster game, only Interplay's motivation behind making it.

Yep. Consoles sure are superior to PCs. Abject terror consumes me!

Thanks for agreeing. Are you going to continue using sarcasm and mockery instead of viable arguements when you can't make your point?

So we're not screwed! This non-existent threat will pass over us!

Guess that answers my question.

 

[agent_c]

Wasnt Prince of Persia a Mac thing, forgive me if this is just symantics here.

I cant think of a single notable Console RPG, none, okay Everquest has been/will be ported, but I doubt they will see the kind of success their PC pals did.

I dont think much has changed since the early 90's. People were saying the PC was gunna die with the release of every new generation of console, but the fact is they deal to different markets. PC is for the serious gamer who sees a several-week game of Civ as short, and the consoles are for that quick burst of action out of the box. Although the PC did have the whole network gaming edge there for a while, it still was a big turn off to the casual gamer, who doesnt want to spend 30 minutes of valuable frag time installing Doom CLXIX

If this means "serious development houses" that were once the mainstay of the genre leave, then thats too bad.

But the serious developers will remain, not beacause of the money, because this is their art. Didnt the whole rise of Linux against Windows show that there are "artists" out there who dont program for huge cash rewards, but to make cool stuff, that works.

The PC will remain a gaming platform, if companies leave it for cash purposes, I guess that means they'll be less crap for us to wade through in the future.