Video Games are dying again...sort of

[Razgovory]

So is Paradox a 'scrappy independent'?

InExile and Obsidian are now I guess as well.

Paradox doesn't produce much in the way of console games.

[viper37]

Yeah, it's basically high stakes block buster focused AAA titles on one end, and scrappy indies on the other, with very little in between.

has it ever been different?

I mean to say that the costs of making AAA titles today is certainly higher, in proportion to the lower tier than it was in the early 90s, but has it once been a "level market", where most games are at about the same level and only a few ones in the bottom (indie) and top (AAA) budget wise?

Didn't the article adress this exact point? That the top 20 title now carry more than twice the market share they did previously?

I'll admit it's still a little hard to read, but still...
The richest games are getting richer partly because the industry makes fewer games over all, concentrating players' spending.

It also doesn't adress the size of the mid-market.

EU1 & 2 could be classified as being made by an indie developper.  EU4 is certainly not in the leagues of Call of Duty, but I don't think it can be classified as an indie developper anymore.  Do they make money from their games?  I tend to think so, since they are still in business.  I don't think I'll see the day either were Europa Universalis XX is greated with as much media attention as Call of Duty XX.

I know what it takes to be at the top, I know what it takes to be at the bottom.  I also know big publishers like EA now make more money from titles than they used to, even if they sell it at the same price, due to creative fiscality and digital distribution instead of physical.  Small time publishers can't exactly afford to have their sales placed in an offshore office.

What I don't know, is how hard is it to keep things afloat in the middle today vs a decade ago.  How hard is it to reach that breaking point where you're no longer indie, today, vs a decade ago?  Were smartphones a good thing for gaming studios because selling games at 1$ means more units, therefore more publicity for your next game?

So many questions unanswered.

[Razgovory]

I think part of the problem is that most of the people here are PC gamers while the article is about console games.  It seemed to me that PC gaming fell apart over the least decade and has rebuilt itself.  Since then PC games and console games have been moving apart.

[Jacob]

I think part of the problem is that most of the people here are PC gamers while the article is about console games.  It seemed to me that PC gaming fell apart over the least decade and has rebuilt itself.  Since then PC games and console games have been moving apart.

Yeah... PC gaming is kind of its own thing. I think it has been getting a bit of a boost as a result of the changing console landscape. But yeah, when people speak of AAA games and blockbusters and things like that, they're usually speaking about console games.

[Ed Anger]

Good. Read a book you nerds.

Is it ok if I read it on my tablet?

I'll allow it. No medieval stuff though, that gets you worked up.

[Capetan Mihali]

I am reading The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy on Languish's recommendation.

[Ed Anger]

I was viewing some tasteful female nudes.

[Valmy]

So is Paradox a 'scrappy independent'?

InExile and Obsidian are now I guess as well.

Paradox doesn't produce much in the way of console games.

Ah good point.  That is a key difference.  I haven't played a console game since I bought a X-Box just to play KOTOR.

[viper37]

But yeah, when people speak of AAA games and blockbusters and things like that, they're usually speaking about console games.

I'm 100% racist when it comes to gaming.  I even refuse to acknowledge there are other devices than PC for intelligent gaming

Nah, seriously, everyone's right, and I'm mostly basing my feelings on what I know of the PC market.  Never really cared for console gaming.  I played a little with the Atari 2600 and the Coleco of my cousins, but having had my first computer at 8yo, my way was traced

What I do know about console gaming though, is that since the very beginning of their popularity, I've heard developpers complain it costs more to develop a game there than on PC.

I thought the X Box would be a great improvement, because it's mostly a PC, and the ports are supposed to be easier, but it seems I will have to wait the new Steambox to see if it changes the way we game on PC.

I find that many games developped for consoles first&foremost lack content and deepness.  It seems developpers are limited by disc space on consoles, so they reduce content & graphic quality, wich drags down the experience for PC game players.  And of course, the majority of console players being teenagers, they dumb down their games, story-wise.  I might be a tad elitist, though

[merithyn]

Jacob, where do you see mid-level companies like High Voltage Software out of Chicago? They've stayed steadily busy with mid-level games for 20 years now.

[Jacob]

Jacob, where do you see mid-level companies like High Voltage Software out of Chicago? They've stayed steadily busy with mid-level games for 20 years now.

It totally depends on the business skills of their leadership.

They could try the indie route, but those companies usually have too much overhead to do so successfully (at least without downsizing); they can still land third party contracts, but there are fewer of them and they're less secure (it sucks ramping up to a 100 person team, and then having funding pulled mid-dev).

From their track record it looks like they mostly make mediocre licensed games; that may be a viable business model still since the licenses are strong - so like I said, it completely depends on the connections and skills of their deal makers.

[dps]

I know what it takes to be at the top, I know what it takes to be at the bottom. 

We don't need to here about your sex life if this thread.

[Jacob]

Pretty decent article on Indie game devs: http://www.polygon.com/2013/10/4/4768148/the-next-generation-of-indies#ooid=s3cXRiZjq1yDypoB3UURIV5vQBqlo1if