They're Dying Mommy,...They're All Dying!!

#1 This downfall of the industry that we are seeing is just the common cycle of business or the changing seasons of weather.

We had years of unchecked growth and prosperity where everything and anything attached itself or found its way into the games industry. Now it is only inevitable that after this impressive growth and prsperity things will slow down and it all comes down to the survival of the fittest. Eventually out of the ashes of the old there will be the birth of something new that is better than anything that came before it and the cycle begins anew.

Logan

#2 Console is the next 'cashcow' and that's what they're all focusing on. Which in turn opens the market up wide to indie developers. :) Gotta love it.

#3 I don't think consoles have all to much to do with it, just remember when th PSX and Saturn came out and everyone said it was the end of the world for PC games.

#4 although the industry was somewhat different then to how it is today,but I agree more with L Foster's view.

#5 Yeah basically what most companies are doing is trying to survive. If they survive they will be in a strong position, but we will lose a lot of lesser companies, and a few greats over the next year or so. It is pretty normal.

Owen

#6 recession... IMO a recurring depression because of stupid politicians... but thata another discussion.

point is, during a recession, if you're already poor, and keep good spending habits, budget your money correctly, and don't smoke, drink, or do drugs, it doesn't bother you one bit, or affect you. :)

guess that leaves out most of the population, hence the economy downturn BS.

so us little poor guys trying to make games shouldn't be affected that much, after all, you can't lose anything if you don't HAVE anything...

-this has been a xhadoe rambling...

#7 The pc game industry has been declared dead on many occasions. mostly by "console is the future" evangelists.
but until someone produces a console with the same adaptability and power as a pc at a competitive price, the pc is here to stay.

modern businesses are intertwined deeply even thought they dont look it. when one falls, two or three feel the negative effects.
My guess is when Dynamix's head started rolling from the chopping block, the bean counters began a panic session thats moving like a shockwave across the industry.

as this little 4 year hiccup winds to a close, the old guard will fall and a new one will rise in its place just like it always has.
unless something worse happens in the mean time, I wouldent worry about it too much.
(personaly though, I wouldent keep much money in stocks, lol ;)

#8 I think there is something different this time. The consoles ARE getting better, much better. Xbox is nothing to sneeze at, especially for the money (less than my GF3 vid card).

Then theres the whole "release now, patch later" thing thats driving me nuts. It wasnt so bad a few years ago, but now you have to download 80 Megs of patches just to get some games going, thats ridiculous. Consoles dont have that option.

If you make a game for the Xbox, you make it for one config. You make a game for a PC and you make it for a ZILLION configs. So not only is there the compatability issue, but theres also the question of limiting the games capabilities for lower end systems or making your game with all the bells and whistles, but risk reducing your market.

The ONLY reason I upgrade my PCs now is for games. I have an old P2 233 and a P2 450 that I can do pretty much anything else I need to do with a computer. Sure speed is nice, but except games, I really think the average Joe is just fine running a P2 450 with 128 Megs of RAM...they can email and use Word pretty much just as easily as they could on a 1.4 Tbird with 512 Megs DDR.

Anyway, I am still a PC gamer, just playing Devil's advocate....I have to admit though I am thinking pretty hard about getting an Xbox just to see.

#9 These deaths are a good thing! Carpe Diem people! Now is you chance to sieze your slice of that 9 billion dollar a year pie known as the interative entertainment industry. The demand for games is still there. There are still big publishers, all you need is a good idea, a personal life strangling amount of work, and some foot soldiers...and you are on your way. Don't get me wrong, you will probably fail. I did. But I got back on the horse and I am giving it another chance...I really have my heart set on an black 1999 porsche 911 carera with tiptronic transmission, and ten million dollars.

A lot of good people, friends, were fired from 'namix...I prefer to think about it like setting birds free.

#10

Quote:but until someone produces a console with the same adaptability and power as a pc at a competitive price, the pc is here to stay.

Its very clear me to that consoles are no longer unique bits of circuitry but essentially PCs bundled in a fancy case. Take the XBox for example: It has an intel processor an nvidia graphics chipset, harddrive, network card, most probably you'll be able to purchase a keyboard interface for it (including mouse). All running under a microsoft based OS.

The XBox DEVKIT is a PC with all the standard wintel configurations.
The Ps2 dev kit is a fat box running redhat linux with a Sony kernel. (dont get that? thought linux was the name of the kernel?? Sonyux..? anyway...)
Same goes for the Dreamcast dev kit, except that runs WinCE.

The point i am trying to make is, it wont take long for us to see a console that has all the features of a pc, including adaptability (which the ps2 is already showing signs of). The only reason consoles are still selling as much today (if not more) is the simple fact that companies like nintendo, sega, konami, capcom, namco etc etc etc. produce loads more games on these platforms than Pc.

#11 The entire idea behind a console is that they're easier to make games for because you know exactly what the limitations of the machine are, and what hardware is in them... If you start introducing the ability to "upgrade", you'd run into incompatibilities etc etc and it would basically become a PC perpetually damned to being used with gravis pads for most of its short life... 3rd party companies would slap together tons of "upgrades" for your console and the company that created the console (Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft) couldn't necessarily stop them from making products that aren't 100% compatable.. people would buy them and then their games might not necessarily work yadda yadda yadda.. why not buy a PC in that case? =) not to mention a console will get much larger if you add the ability to upgrade since you'd have to add daughter boards... everything is printed directly on to a main board right now, as far as I know, which is why they can make consoles so thin... add daughter cards and everything will look like a gamecube, or worse-one of those Mac G4 Cubes >:)

I personally am a huge advocate for PC gaming. Until consoles stop borrowing technology from the PC gaming sector and start trying to rocket past them (which they should be able to do since they have fewer things to worry about) PCs will always surpass a console a year after its release... only reasons consoles look better is cause of the great effect of TV dithering ;) Lets watch it on a digital television vs a computer monitor... then again, maybe I'm wrong =p I just haven't been a big fan of console games since the original Nintendo died out

-nohbdy

#12 If only PC hardware manufactures (especially gfx card manufacturers) followed "stricter" standards before releasing a circuit board, it would reduce the amount of jigger-pokery inside code to see what is supported by software/hardware etc.. Some form of commitee, to ensure pieces of hardware followed X-Y & Z. Like nintendo has a quality control system before releasing a game (for example).

I am a programmer, and i am lucky enough to get paid for doing what I do, if I am given the choice of either pc gaming or console, without a doubt i would pick consoles, the console gaming field is much richer than the pc. This dilema is not caused because of the architectural issues (in my eyes) but, the lack of good code shops willing to go all out on the pc platform. Programmers today are smart enough and have enough access to resources to not be afriad (not a lot anyways) of compatability issues.

#13 You guys seem to be missing a key factor in PC vs Console: $$$

Xbox is supposed to be about $300. This is much more affordable for Junior's games than a comparable performing PC. This means accessability to the consumer, which means more consumers to buy games.

Another issue is ease of use. Any kid can take a console out of its packaging, plug it in, and be playing games in no time. Not true for PCs. This again makes consoles more accessible to the average Joe.

#14 But the console is a static device in terms of upgradability, the PC is always evolving. Most consoles follw a 5 to 7 year path from R&D to replacement. Moore's law dooms any product with a timeline that long to obsolescence.

Console developers are not willing to let people upgrade their boxes anyway. They don't want to be flooded with tech calls every time some new toy comes out. The consoles biggest strength, stability, is it's greatest weakness. Most people who buy a console are not willing to poke around inside of it.

The N64 was hailed as a PC killer when it first came out. Three years later the PC had completely eclipsed it in terms of graphics and speed.

I think the PC will continue to be the R&D lab for the big game dev houses. The temptation to try the latest technology is just too great for most designers. Besides most of the new consoles use last product generation PC tech anyway (GeForce2, Intel 850 Mhz.) So the latest toys will always be with the PC since the console developers take about two years to design the new box.

#15 The N64 was designed to be upgradable, like most cartridged based systems (and some cd systems) with ram packs you could plug directly onto your machine.
Remeber the sfx chip? It was nintendo's attempt at producing realtime 3d graphics on the snes. It was a large success, every game which wanted to use the sfx chip, had it build directly onto the cartridge itself. Sega's attempt of rivaling the sfx chip was the 32X which was an additional addon to your megadrive/genesis, we all know what happened to that!

In some ways consoles are better left "un-upgradable".
The ps2 for example has a numerous amount of devices planned for it. This is causing much confusing in some ps2 code-shops, not knowing what sort of ps2 devices will be out when the game they are working on is released.

I just hope the ps2 harddrive wont be used as a platform for programmers to get away with anything less than perfect, "bug free" code. It gives the developer the option of releasing patches / bug-fixes, but, Sony is pushing hard and attempting to get the word out that this is not what the drive is designed for.

-mes

#16 Lets address the real underlying reasons why PC games are dead (or a better term could be 'stagnated'). In the early days of PC gaming, there wasnt much out there, we all know; even though that was the case, the few developers that existed back then were infused by excitement and creativity. Nowadays most developers are the same way, however they are chained by the evil fetters of the almighty dollar. The big PC game companies are faltering; why? Because the creative developer is hampered by the profit-mongerers.
Lets consider a game like Dune II. It was the beginner of a new genre now known as strategy games. Dune II was an ingenious game. Why? Because it reflected the creativity and ingenuity of its developers. The marketers of other companies looked at Dune II and saw that it sold well, so they made games that were similar to it. "This game sold well, so we will make a game like it," they said. That statement is the ultimate embodiment of the current stagnation in computer games. It is the epitaph chizeled into the gravestone of PC games. It is that business-bred, greed-motivated, money-investing attitude of the marketers that has caused our stagnation. PC games are dead, but the PC itself is not. What keeps the PC going? The Internet does, plain and simple. But back to the rant. Who is responsible? It is not the developers that are to blame -- the culprits of universal PC gaming boredom is none other than upper and middle management in the companies that fund PC game creation. So what can be done? Its already being done. Its called "independent game developers." THAT IS ME AND YOU: US! Together and individually, *we* will be the creators of games that will kick PC-gaming back on its feet. The dollar-mongerers monopolize a deteriorating PC marketplace; that we all can see. They have sacrificed creativity / originality (for what?) for the sake of tangible profit. That is WHY they allow their hired developers to make games that they market to the masses: money, pure and simple. I dont want to single out any companies, but pay attention to their drivel and you will know what i mean. So, to sum it up, the future of PC game development is in the hands of those who dare to revolutionize the few genres, those who are extremely creative and are not afraid to delve into unknown waters. I am one of those developers who is working my arse off to do it. INDEPENDENT GAME DEVELOPERS! GARAGEGAMES WILL RULE THE WORLD!

Note: I am not associated with the staff of Garagegames and thus my opinions are entirely my own, uninfluenced by them.

So be it.

#17 Hmmm....

I guess its time for my Iron Chef game idea, once we're done with our current stuff :)

#18 not blind creativity... sheesh :-)
make dynamic artificially intelligent worlds or simulations and then plug in an RPG or FPS interface for the player. thats what i am doing. my company is Digital Worlds Productions... the name makes my purpose transparent :-)

#19 A console "life span" is what like 3-4 years before a newer version (upgrade) comes along...if you are buying the consoles at thier launch time they cost around $300 right now...that works out to an average of around $100 dollars a year spent on the hardware to play console games...with PC's evolveing all the time how much money would you spend on average per year to have and maintain a top of the line gameing PC continuesly?

For the money a brand new top of the line gameing PC cost you could buy every console available and have change left over for games (and with the knowledge that you won't need to buy anymore hardware for 3-4 years)...but with the PC in 6 months you would be looking to upgrade it to keep it top of the line...

#20 This is essentially not all about money. You may be looking at paying around 300bucks but what about all the new addons? plus you have to pay for the games and at the end of the day you can only play games on this machine.

The reason I choose console games is simple, walk into a pc games store and you will find 40 first person shooters throw in 30 odd stratedgy games and around 20 or so simulation games, all released a few years back being sold in "bundle pack". As for console games, they only have shelf life MAX 3-4 years, but they wont stay for that long, seeing as games are constantly coming through and its extremely rare to find "add-on" packs or "a new level editor" etc...

I'm not saying pc gaming is not good, but its possible to do more with the platform than its current situation.