Will There Be A Future In Computer Games?

Ever since my parents got my first real computer, a 8088(does this date me or what?), I have forever been facinated with computer games. I like them, enjoy watching them, playing them, and reading all about them. I don't know how to do a line of C++, yet I have a three year subscription to Game Developer Journal. For me, the magic of the games isn't lessened with knowing how it's done, but expanded in how people manage to make art within such a small space. Very much like looking at a fine painting, you see how the artist made the limitations of the medium work for him and that is something spectacular.

Yet, a snake has crawled into this Eden. It is called Marketing. Or, to be more accurate, The Market.

The Market is the monster that awaits any game. They demand more-more graphics, more sound, more gameplay, more of everything. If your explosions in your last game were amazing, the next set of explosions have to be spectacular. The sounds in your last game rattled your bones? The next game has to rattle windows across the street.

Not to say that this is a bad thing, mind you. The pressure to innovate is in any competitive industry, and innovation is what allows us to now go to the stars instead of looking at them, scratching our asses with a stick. However, to compete in The Market, you have to have more of everything. Which means that one guy in his basement can't program it all now-the necessary skills are too wide-ranging for any one person to truly master. Which means, you have to hire more people.

The cycle starts there. You need more people to make the game. But, unless this is a bunch of freinds that is going to get a share of the profits when you let them in, you have to pay them. Which means you have to have somebody backing you, unless your independently wealthy. Having a backer means that they want a return on their investment. You have to produce or pay the money back. This means you either have to take as few chances as possible, or work as quickly as you can to develop the risky bits.

And what happens if the market shifts while you're producing the game? And your investors and backers get worried? You can have anything happen, from having a version of the game that is pre-beta released (Battlecruiser 3000AD), have development time squeezed so that you can't find the bugs (Ultima Ascension), or even have the game canceled (Bablyon 5 flight sim, which was replaced by a Rodeo Simulator!?!?!). And even if you don't have these pressures, you have the marketing people spinning stories of how this game will be the next best thing since sliced bread, which means you have to keep up with marketing. Which means more effort, and missed deadlines and the investors get upset with you and....a whole nasty cycle. Which means that if your game takes too many risks, you might not get someone to invest in it, as the public has a long memory for bad games (anyone remember Falcon 3.0? Good), and having too many bad games in a row will doom you.

Not to say that the process doesn't work at times-a few of the major, blockbuster titles, such as Homeworld, Unreal Tournament, Half Life, and Rainbow Six all took chances, and knew what the chances they were taking were. But for every Half Life, there's a dozen Klingon Honor Guards. For every Starcraft or Total Annilation, there's a dozen C&C:Tiberium Suns. And, the fear of investors in taking unjustified risks, the marketing needs to have a product come out on-time, and the gamer's needs for something new and different, all mean that the want to make a major innovation will be difficult.

What's the solution? Shareware may be a big option-while games are getting bigger, bandwidth is as well. Most places have, or will in the near future, have access to DSL and cable modems and this means you can get large downloads without a problem. A person plays a game, and if they don't like the preview, they can delete it rather than shell out the $50 to buy the game. Setting up amateur software associations (ASAs), on the model of Amateur Publishing Associations could be another-the team votes to develop a game and the team members work together and split the profits of any games they create.

There will be a future in games-the question is if that future is one that we'll be amazed more than sickened.

You want to come here and hear my opinion, you're welcome to come by. If not, you can Go Away, and let other people in.

Check out the Previous Rant.

This page was created on 5/23/00.

Created by Jonathan Souza on Hot Dog Professional 6.