And there IS a split on DA2, as high profile "professional" reviews have put it up on a pedastal, yet I can comfortably say that users across Bioware's own social website, Steam forums, Gamespot, and more put it within the 3/5 star or 7/10 range (check yourself if you require proof).
And as for a game crash... mmmm... I'm mixed. The market is definitely oversaturated. And I can see a crash that may really damage a lot of generally unknown franchises and companies. At the same time, though, it's a great time to be a franchise (Pokemon, Call of Duty, Elder Scrolls, etc.) and it appears to be the time of sequels (Witcher 2, Guild Wars 2, etc), so the bigger players may not see anything.
Then again, EA and Activision have been trying to gobble up everyone they're able to... as I said, I'm mixed. But I don't think we'll see any crash any time in the immediate future.
There will never be a video games crash like we saw with the Atari 2600 ever again, I am sure of that, the conditions are just too different in the modern market and games as a medium has gone way beyond 'fad'.
What we are really potentiolly looking at though is, imo, the crash of Bioware as they destroy their core market in the pursuit of EA nirvana.
If SW fails then they are done, and probably EA in a large part as well- they are massively dependent on this game being a success right now.
Well 2012 is just 9 months away and if the Mayans are rigth then all this is not even worth discussing.
Except of course the mayans didn't predict the end of the world but the end of a cycle. My Calendar ended last December and the world didn't end. Man I hear this stuff too often. . people need to do their own research and not recycle other peoples half baked ideas because they are sensationanlized. I am sure you meant it tongue in cheek but that just propogates the lies. . it is when the smurfs movie hits theatres that the world will end.
As far as a video game crash. I think the industry has to keep up with what people want. The paradigm is changing and those that catch on will do fine. I think there will be a culling though that is for sure.
Well 2012 is just 9 months away and if the Mayans are rigth then all this is not even worth discussing.
Their calender ends then. But that really don't say that they thought the world would end, just that they though if their civilazation would still be round they would make a new one.
The German/Swedish monks in Wisby had their own special calender from the 11th to the early 15th century, I doubt they thought the end would end with their calender, and if they did they were wrong. The interesting thing about that BTW is that the possibly real, possibly fake runestone they found in Michigan and is supposedly written by one of those monks travelling the new world actually uses that system, and it is a rather complex one which the farmer some say have made it could have known nothing about.
Anyways: Nothing actually points to that the Mayan thought the world would end that year. You don't think the world will end every 1st of january, do you?
Well 2012 is just 9 months away and if the Mayans are rigth then all this is not even worth discussing.
Their calender ends then. But that really don't say that they thought the world would end, just that they though if their civilazation would still be round they would make a new one.
The German/Swedish monks in Wisby had their own special calender from the 11th to the early 15th century, I doubt they thought the end would end with their calender, and if they did they were wrong. The interesting thing about that BTW is that the possibly real, possibly fake runestone they found in Michigan and is supposedly written by one of those monks travelling the new world actually uses that system, and it is a rather complex one which the farmer some say have made it could have known nothing about.
Anyways: Nothing actually points to that the Mayan thought the world would end that year. You don't think the world will end every 1st of january, do you?
The cycle ends in 2012. The progression of the equinox. Just as our calendar ends in december and begins again in January.
To the caterpillar it is the end of the world. To the master, it is a butterfly.
To the caterpillar it is the end of the world, to the master, it is a butterfly.
There will never be a video games crash like we saw with the Atari 2600 ever again, I am sure of that, the conditions are just too different in the modern market and games as a medium has gone way beyond 'fad'.
What we are really potentiolly looking at though is, imo, the crash of Bioware as they destroy their core market in the pursuit of EA nirvana.
If SW fails then they are done, and probably EA in a large part as well- they are massively dependent on this game being a success right now.
Be ready for Bioware to be another Bullfrog.
Thats exactly what will happen.
EA dont care about real rpg fans they only care about $$$ and bioware seems to be right company for that to do it, no brainer action games with bioware logo on it hehe.
Games played:AC1-Darktide'99-2000-AC2-Darktide/dawnsong2003-2005,Lineage2-2005-2006 and now Darkfall-2009..... In between WoW few months AoC few months and some f2p also all very short few weeks.
Video Game are beginning to Flourish like never before.
I recently took a trip to San Francisco. I loved it....and I had to go between airports and always I check what people are playing and doing out of interest. I am not just a gamer, but a musician and a computer scientist. Modding and Mapping are hobbies of mind I undertake when I have time and its always nice to see what younger people are trying out.
Here is a list of things I've seen,
1) Laptops - Most people out in college campuses, airports and those who travel around own mac laptops. I am not saying they are better or worse...but I am stating observations vs statistics.
2) For the first time the only person I saw when walking around San Francisco, through college campuses and through the airport who owned a Japanese Handheld was a kid who looked 11 - 12 years of age. I did not see anyone with a PSP and only one person with a DS. There was even an exhibit that was presenting 3DS, nintendo's new handheld and the first thing I saw when people took part in it was saying "what can this do that my cell phone can't?"
3) For the first time I saw the majority of people playing games on their smart phones, tablets and laptops. All three are built on computer operating systems and are not "Japanese Based Systems." Remember that the idea of Video Game Consoles are a Japanese Invention....
4) When I sat on the buses/subways/Cable Cars/Trollies/Boats...once again I saw people playing smartphone games as handhelds...Some were fully 3D....full screen. A lot of people love their 2D games too...Even I have a soft spot for playing Sudoku, Chess and classic games out there.
5) This period is a transitional period as many who pay for MMOs and Shooters pay into large series which take time to develop...I saw a group of four people play the Dragon Age table top game...The goal of Dragon Age Origins wasn't just to launch a Video Game but to Launch a Full Franchise...Video Games, Table Top Games and begin to Challenge and Compete against Dungeons and Dragons. Dragon Age Origins was all about creating a "background" story that "begins" a series of stories and games...and Dragon Age II expanded upon the first.
----------------Below are thoughts and more things I've seen, but long term--------------
6) Next Generation Consoles and ideas are starting to show up.
My experience within computers and consoles taught me that this whole generation was transitional. Due to the size and scope of these games being released and their complex natures, consoles made a huge leap.
Compare a PS2 to a PS3 and then compare an Xbox to an Xbox 360. Both of them became more computer-like and less console-like. It became a transitional phase where the most popular games on a global level are actually PC-Based Games that have also been ported to consoles.
Due to this there are less overall number of titles, but now what matters most is to own a single platform to be able to play most network online games.
7) This is the first generation where console gaming companies and PC gaming companies had decided to port games to each side..there are console games on PC and PC games on Console...and thanks to this, a lot of companies have learned a lot about such processes..In fact for the first time several Japanese Companies went PC for their MMOs and full games.. Square-Enix did this with Final Fantasy XIV and Sega is doing this with Phantasy Star Online II. There are even more Japanese Gaming Companies now developing on PC...which means that consoles and PCs will keep getting closer together until gaming is tied together and we have a competition between Desktops and Handhelds.
I strongly believe that the next console generation in handhelds, desktops and hardware will truly blow away what we have now.....I do believe that this Second Wind of titles we are getting before everything changes over will lead to the next Golden Age of Gaming.
I strongly believe that the next console generation in handhelds, desktops and hardware will truly blow away what we have now.....I do believe that this Second Wind of titles we are getting before everything changes over will lead to the next Golden Age of Gaming.
The next generation is a long ways off, the functional control types (keypads/mouse+keyboard) have remained unchanged fod decades (except for a few extra buttons,) and the corpses of the current crop nunchucks, pointers, camera doohickies will pave the road of failure just like the powergloves and light guns that came before them.
We currently don't have any real material for a paradigm shift. Ocular implant gaming, brain chip gaming, or thought impulse controllers are a good few decades away.
It's when people stop buying games because they are sick of buggy rushed recycled garbage with the label of being the 'next big thing'. At the end of 1982 Atari released 'ET the Extraterrestrial' with great hype and promises of being the end all, be all of video gaming... What people got was a totally unplayable rushed piece of total garbage that not only was the worst game ever conceived but also had nothing to do with the movie it was based on. It shook people's confidence in the gaming industry so bad that people stopped buying games across the board and caused the single greatest crash the industry has ever seen. It took years for the industry to recover.
Bren
Oh, I remember! Damn, am I so old. >.<
Maybe systems need a crash now and then to refresh.
...
Hey, I think I just discovered a universal truth, maybe I should make a patent for it! XD
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Well 2012 is just 9 months away and if the Mayans are rigth then all this is not even worth discussing.
Their calender ends then. But that really don't say that they thought the world would end, just that they though if their civilazation would still be round they would make a new one.
The German/Swedish monks in Wisby had their own special calender from the 11th to the early 15th century, I doubt they thought the end would end with their calender, and if they did they were wrong. The interesting thing about that BTW is that the possibly real, possibly fake runestone they found in Michigan and is supposedly written by one of those monks travelling the new world actually uses that system, and it is a rather complex one which the farmer some say have made it could have known nothing about.
Anyways: Nothing actually points to that the Mayan thought the world would end that year. You don't think the world will end every 1st of january, do you?
What a letdown. I always wished it was the end of the world. I am getting old and bored and if go, I think it's only fair if everybody else does too. XD
Poor Mayans ... getting out of calendars. Maybe someone should suggest a UN relief effort and drop some spare calendars over Maya-land?
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Not to sound like a susipicious Sally, but the video crash occured when developers overproduced insanely bad titles and the market became oversaturated. At the moment gaming is on a high, I mean we have just seen a year where Call of Duty has sold almost 20 million units, Cataclysm upwards of 5 million...and those are the big games, even smaller titles have sold in excess of a million over multiple platforms. If a crash was impending, WoW turning to F2P and Dragon Age getting an "8" rather than a "9" isn't going to doom the industry - and neither will the success of Knights of the Old Republic.
Another factor is simply the size of the industry and the wide range of genres it covers. Supposed the MMORPG industry crashed, the FPS industry (including any MMOFPS) would be fine. If the FPS industry crashed, the RPG or RTS industry would probably be just fine. Personally, I think things are actually heading up, not down. Most of the 20 or so games I've installed on my computer in the past year or so actually worked well. Very few clunkers, and the ones that were clunkers were free or betas.
I don't see the crash being a crash like it was in teh 80's. Back then you had a limited number of games and serious game devlopers. Part of the reason for that crash was lack of QA/Quality Control - anyone could pick up the hardware they needed to make and publiush a game for any system. Nintendo revolutionaized that by drawing up contracts and adding encryption to their system - you couldn't write code without a key.
The next crash, probably won't be like the first one. Video game devlopment is now a global economy. What I see is a crash coming in specific styles of payment. People are going to get fed up with one or more of the types we have out there, and choose another. You have traditional payment - one time method. You have subscription payment (MMO's). You have DLC payments. You also have FP2/Item Mall/Micro payments. People are going to have options to choose form and once they get sick of getting the short end of the stick with one, theyll flock to another.
Using the DA 2 example, if they intend to improve the game for DLC material after people already paid a premium for the original, I see one of two things happeneing. Either people are going to get sick of DLC as being an excuse for a half finished product, or they would prefer to buy a $5 game and download the next $40 woth of content one piece at a time.
There will never be a video games crash like we saw with the Atari 2600 ever again, I am sure of that, the conditions are just too different in the modern market and games as a medium has gone way beyond 'fad'.
What we are really potentiolly looking at though is, imo, the crash of Bioware as they destroy their core market in the pursuit of EA nirvana.
If SW fails then they are done, and probably EA in a large part as well- they are massively dependent on this game being a success right now.
Be ready for Bioware to be another Bullfrog.
Thats exactly what will happen.
EA dont care about real rpg fans they only care about $$$ and bioware seems to be right company for that to do it, no brainer action games with bioware logo on it hehe.
exactly, and all those people that are rationalising EA's how involvement is 'fine' and 'different this time' ,while ignoring the trends in how Bioware are increasingly building their games just because they loved the old Bioware games or the Star Wars IP, are kidding themselves imo.
More and more SW looks like it will be like DCUO if it was made by Cryptic. But hey, it has voice overs. Wooo...
Comments
He was talking about Dragon Age 2, not Homefront.
And there IS a split on DA2, as high profile "professional" reviews have put it up on a pedastal, yet I can comfortably say that users across Bioware's own social website, Steam forums, Gamespot, and more put it within the 3/5 star or 7/10 range (check yourself if you require proof).
And as for a game crash... mmmm... I'm mixed. The market is definitely oversaturated. And I can see a crash that may really damage a lot of generally unknown franchises and companies. At the same time, though, it's a great time to be a franchise (Pokemon, Call of Duty, Elder Scrolls, etc.) and it appears to be the time of sequels (Witcher 2, Guild Wars 2, etc), so the bigger players may not see anything.
Then again, EA and Activision have been trying to gobble up everyone they're able to... as I said, I'm mixed. But I don't think we'll see any crash any time in the immediate future.
There will never be a video games crash like we saw with the Atari 2600 ever again, I am sure of that, the conditions are just too different in the modern market and games as a medium has gone way beyond 'fad'.
What we are really potentiolly looking at though is, imo, the crash of Bioware as they destroy their core market in the pursuit of EA nirvana.
If SW fails then they are done, and probably EA in a large part as well- they are massively dependent on this game being a success right now.
Be ready for Bioware to be another Bullfrog.
Except of course the mayans didn't predict the end of the world but the end of a cycle. My Calendar ended last December and the world didn't end. Man I hear this stuff too often. . people need to do their own research and not recycle other peoples half baked ideas because they are sensationanlized. I am sure you meant it tongue in cheek but that just propogates the lies. . it is when the smurfs movie hits theatres that the world will end.
As far as a video game crash. I think the industry has to keep up with what people want. The paradigm is changing and those that catch on will do fine. I think there will be a culling though that is for sure.
Wa min God! Se æx on min heafod is!
Their calender ends then. But that really don't say that they thought the world would end, just that they though if their civilazation would still be round they would make a new one.
The German/Swedish monks in Wisby had their own special calender from the 11th to the early 15th century, I doubt they thought the end would end with their calender, and if they did they were wrong. The interesting thing about that BTW is that the possibly real, possibly fake runestone they found in Michigan and is supposedly written by one of those monks travelling the new world actually uses that system, and it is a rather complex one which the farmer some say have made it could have known nothing about.
Anyways: Nothing actually points to that the Mayan thought the world would end that year. You don't think the world will end every 1st of january, do you?
The cycle ends in 2012. The progression of the equinox. Just as our calendar ends in december and begins again in January.
To the caterpillar it is the end of the world. To the master, it is a butterfly.
To the caterpillar it is the end of the world, to the master, it is a butterfly.
Haha you guys beat me to it and so much more elequantly . . glad I am not alone on this one.
Wa min God! Se æx on min heafod is!
Thats exactly what will happen.
EA dont care about real rpg fans they only care about $$$ and bioware seems to be right company for that to do it, no brainer action games with bioware logo on it hehe.
Games played:AC1-Darktide'99-2000-AC2-Darktide/dawnsong2003-2005,Lineage2-2005-2006 and now Darkfall-2009.....
In between WoW few months AoC few months and some f2p also all very short few weeks.
Video Game Crash? You kidding me?
Video Game are beginning to Flourish like never before.
I recently took a trip to San Francisco. I loved it....and I had to go between airports and always I check what people are playing and doing out of interest. I am not just a gamer, but a musician and a computer scientist. Modding and Mapping are hobbies of mind I undertake when I have time and its always nice to see what younger people are trying out.
Here is a list of things I've seen,
1) Laptops - Most people out in college campuses, airports and those who travel around own mac laptops. I am not saying they are better or worse...but I am stating observations vs statistics.
2) For the first time the only person I saw when walking around San Francisco, through college campuses and through the airport who owned a Japanese Handheld was a kid who looked 11 - 12 years of age. I did not see anyone with a PSP and only one person with a DS. There was even an exhibit that was presenting 3DS, nintendo's new handheld and the first thing I saw when people took part in it was saying "what can this do that my cell phone can't?"
3) For the first time I saw the majority of people playing games on their smart phones, tablets and laptops. All three are built on computer operating systems and are not "Japanese Based Systems." Remember that the idea of Video Game Consoles are a Japanese Invention....
4) When I sat on the buses/subways/Cable Cars/Trollies/Boats...once again I saw people playing smartphone games as handhelds...Some were fully 3D....full screen. A lot of people love their 2D games too...Even I have a soft spot for playing Sudoku, Chess and classic games out there.
5) This period is a transitional period as many who pay for MMOs and Shooters pay into large series which take time to develop...I saw a group of four people play the Dragon Age table top game...The goal of Dragon Age Origins wasn't just to launch a Video Game but to Launch a Full Franchise...Video Games, Table Top Games and begin to Challenge and Compete against Dungeons and Dragons. Dragon Age Origins was all about creating a "background" story that "begins" a series of stories and games...and Dragon Age II expanded upon the first.
----------------Below are thoughts and more things I've seen, but long term--------------
6) Next Generation Consoles and ideas are starting to show up.
My experience within computers and consoles taught me that this whole generation was transitional. Due to the size and scope of these games being released and their complex natures, consoles made a huge leap.
Compare a PS2 to a PS3 and then compare an Xbox to an Xbox 360. Both of them became more computer-like and less console-like. It became a transitional phase where the most popular games on a global level are actually PC-Based Games that have also been ported to consoles.
Due to this there are less overall number of titles, but now what matters most is to own a single platform to be able to play most network online games.
7) This is the first generation where console gaming companies and PC gaming companies had decided to port games to each side..there are console games on PC and PC games on Console...and thanks to this, a lot of companies have learned a lot about such processes..In fact for the first time several Japanese Companies went PC for their MMOs and full games.. Square-Enix did this with Final Fantasy XIV and Sega is doing this with Phantasy Star Online II. There are even more Japanese Gaming Companies now developing on PC...which means that consoles and PCs will keep getting closer together until gaming is tied together and we have a competition between Desktops and Handhelds.
I strongly believe that the next console generation in handhelds, desktops and hardware will truly blow away what we have now.....I do believe that this Second Wind of titles we are getting before everything changes over will lead to the next Golden Age of Gaming.
The next generation is a long ways off, the functional control types (keypads/mouse+keyboard) have remained unchanged fod decades (except for a few extra buttons,) and the corpses of the current crop nunchucks, pointers, camera doohickies will pave the road of failure just like the powergloves and light guns that came before them.
We currently don't have any real material for a paradigm shift. Ocular implant gaming, brain chip gaming, or thought impulse controllers are a good few decades away.
Oh, I remember! Damn, am I so old. >.<
Maybe systems need a crash now and then to refresh.
...
Hey, I think I just discovered a universal truth, maybe I should make a patent for it! XD
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
What a letdown. I always wished it was the end of the world. I am getting old and bored and if go, I think it's only fair if everybody else does too. XD
Poor Mayans ... getting out of calendars. Maybe someone should suggest a UN relief effort and drop some spare calendars over Maya-land?
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
I don't see the crash being a crash like it was in teh 80's. Back then you had a limited number of games and serious game devlopers. Part of the reason for that crash was lack of QA/Quality Control - anyone could pick up the hardware they needed to make and publiush a game for any system. Nintendo revolutionaized that by drawing up contracts and adding encryption to their system - you couldn't write code without a key.
The next crash, probably won't be like the first one. Video game devlopment is now a global economy. What I see is a crash coming in specific styles of payment. People are going to get fed up with one or more of the types we have out there, and choose another. You have traditional payment - one time method. You have subscription payment (MMO's). You have DLC payments. You also have FP2/Item Mall/Micro payments. People are going to have options to choose form and once they get sick of getting the short end of the stick with one, theyll flock to another.
Using the DA 2 example, if they intend to improve the game for DLC material after people already paid a premium for the original, I see one of two things happeneing. Either people are going to get sick of DLC as being an excuse for a half finished product, or they would prefer to buy a $5 game and download the next $40 woth of content one piece at a time.
exactly, and all those people that are rationalising EA's how involvement is 'fine' and 'different this time' ,while ignoring the trends in how Bioware are increasingly building their games just because they loved the old Bioware games or the Star Wars IP, are kidding themselves imo.
More and more SW looks like it will be like DCUO if it was made by Cryptic. But hey, it has voice overs. Wooo...