Kinga
Makowka
OUDF501
What
influence publishers and businessmen have on the gaming industry. Did it turn
from an entertainment industry purely into a money making machine?
The perception of gaming has changed a great deal in the
past decade. The niche-market stereotype of male nerds and geeks playing video
games in their basements has evolved to a much broader spectrum of markets. Now
there are games targeted to consumers of all demographics – children, adults,
boys, girls, strategy games for the intellectuals, sports games for the jocks,
even balance-board exercise games marketed towards elderly women wishing
to stay agile. An example of this is a Wii Fit Balance Board. ‘using Nintendo’s
Wii Fit for training to improve clinical measures of balance in older adults
and to retain the improvements after a period of time.’
What was once considered ‘lame’ by the general
populace in the Sega and Nintendo era, has now exploded in popularity as
evidenced by metrics like convention attendance, advertising expenses, and most
importantly – sales revenue. Though difficult to fully estimate, in 2011 the
global video game market was valued to be roughly 65 billion in US dollars. ‘REVENUE FORECASTS
FOR 2011. Size of global game market revenue:$65 billion, up from $62.7 billion
in 2010.’ Many
argue that for this reason, the gaming industry (sometimes referred to as the
“interactive entertainment industry”) is no longer as pure as it once was. It
is believed that once upon a time, those who played and produced games did
so mainly for one underlying reason – the love of the game. Once discovered
that it was capable of turning a great deal of profit, those wishing to make
money off of it began to abuse it – and thus, the industry became convoluted. ‘
We gamers do not have any problem with DLC until it is done in a right way.’
In this essay I will be discussing what effect does this
have on the gaming industry. Many people think that businessmen ruin it, that
they shouldn’t be in charge of the industry they know nothing about, but if not
businessmen then who? Gamers they say. “We put people who don’t know gaming in
charge” “the type of person who knows how to make an awesome video game about
fighting dragons with a giant chainsaw tends not to be the same type of person
who is an expert in business and finances.”
They have got a point there, but it works
both ways, it is not just about making a great game afterall. Because you need
a great way to advertise it, and sell it well. “In 2009, EA executive Rich
Hilleman indicated in a speech that his company ‘now typically spends two or
three times as much on marketing and advertising as it does on developing a
game.” And it is completely understandable why, it is because no matter how
good a game is, it will never sell itself. We live in a world where most people
do not have own opinion. ‘People do not know what they want until you give it
to them.’ People that will buy what most of their friends own, what is
advertised on tv. We live in a world where masses need to be kept on their
toes, they need constant reminder and reassurance that they are waiting for
something amazing. That is where transmedia comes into play. We play games
inspired by books, that are then made into movies, cartoons. We cover our walls
in our favourite game’s art work, wear clothes with our favourite logo’s purely
to let other people know what we love. We even drink from cups with our
favourite faces on while reading books that inspired our favourite game. It is
a one big loop. A good example of this is Harry Potter, after the game came out
they earned $427 million purely on the game, we are not counting other trinkets
toys and figures. ‘Electronic Arts, which have sold a total of $427m in
America.’ But nobody blames anyone, because it keeps people happy and excited
and it makes the companies the much needed money. “ The leaked initial
development contract for the game Destiny - $140 million” After All no matter
what it is caled it is a one big investment, and like any other, when they
invest huge lumps of money into something they do it so they can at least break
even.
Gamemakers have been pushed beyond their
limits to produce games that will please the masses. These days people are not
excited about the little things anymore, they want more, more, more, bigger,
better, faster. It is a kind of people you will never please. So what happens
you have got to make a few sacrifices and a bit of extra effort. Games used to
be different before, now even the simplest of shooters has a good storyline
behind it, great weapons, armour, leveling up system, sort rewards schemes etc.
People get bored of ordinary gaming. This means that they do not want to see
something they have seen five thousand times before. ‘Nintendo
in particular has fallen behind in the console ‘war’ because it has been slow
to adapt to the needs of a global audience.’ It puts the producers in a very difficult place,
lately they decide either remake the old games hoping people will buy it for
sentimental reasons. Or they have to invest three times as much into it to come
up with something completely new, this means using new technology and
techniques to do it. ‘Gaming itself is expanding far beyond this single
paradigm’, ‘making games… requires a lot of men and women working
with expensive tools for years. And that’s before they are even marketed.’ Which means the end product, which will
be something highly anticipated, but also will be a little more expensive than
your average game. So clearly the investors need a guarantee they will get
their money back. This is where a lot of DLC’s ( downloadable content) come
into play. When you buy your AAA title you should expect the game to be incomplete, and the DLC to be available to buy but
at a price. ‘Nowadays, though purchasing a full game after the release
date is not an easy task: maybe the developer locked some in-game content in
the pursuit of milking its own creation with absurd DLC.’ The original concept
was to develop and add extra content for games after they have been released,
to keep the audience engaged in the game. It became very popular and started
being abused. The subject that raises most people’s blood pressure is the “Day
one DLC’s” Developers remove content from their games on purpose and release it
as a Day One DLC along the side of the original game. ‘Developers remove some
content from their games and release it as Day One DLC which actually means to
enjoy the full game now you will have to pay for the disc you buy and 10-15$
for the DLC. This practice brings loads of cash in developers’ bank account as
franchise lovers who want to enjoy the complete experience offered by the game
will go and pay for that DLC.’ But truth be told if masses would not buy it it
would not carry on for a long time, we cannot complain about something we keep
alive. With such
high expectations people should not complain about having to pay a little
extra. It is like a holiday. You can go camping and have a great time, or you
can go to an all inclusive five star hotel in Italy and have a great time, both
fun, different kind of fun but also comes with a different price tag. ‘People
have become accustomed to playing games for free, and it is increasingly
difficult to capture paying gamers.’
There are free to play games out there.
they are usually games on Facebook, Mobile apps, iPad apps. It is becoming a
huge market there are 800,000+ iOS applications available in the App store. Is
it worth spending a lot of time making a game to sell it for $1? Well let’s
look at League of Legends. It is a free to play game and in 2013 the revenues
topped $600 million. The way those kind of games make money is off the little
things. If you want extra ‘in game’ money you have to pay for them, pay for
better weapons and armour. Pay to unlock extra levels. Pay to progress faster
in free plays. Usually people that play free to play games spend more money on
it than if they were to buy your average AAA title game off the shelf. ‘A “free to play” model, but gives severe disadvantages
to players who don’t pay.’ This system makes people frustrated for not being
able to either complete the game or their character being bad, and making spend
money.
Many people think that the businessmen
are so scared of losing their precious money so much that they panic and do
indeed make decisions that anger people. They go for pretty desperate and very
image damaging moves. For Example gaming review sites like IGN and Metacritic
have been accused of giving certain games and companies higher reviews in
exchange for kickbacks – evidenced by several factors such as the selection of
their critics being under no formal control and little transparency in how the
process fully takes place and its funding. According to an analysis report by
the Xentax Foundation regarding the quantification of Metacritic score
data: “The data at Metacritic leaves
much to be desired and seems to be heavily biased.” - Mike W.
Zuurman
Retailers like Gamestop have also been brought under
scrutiny . Forbes noting a most recent example involving Sony and Microsoft
issuing a free Xbox One and PS4 to all of GameStop’s general managers. ‘the
store’s general managers will all be receiving a free PlayStation 4 and Xbox
One this holiday season’. Although
some may argue this to be an educational endeavor, rather than a bribe, to help
managers answer potential customers’ questions. Many perceive it to have become
a “you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours” industry wherein games are no
longer produced and purchased based solely on their quality, but now instead on
things like how large a company’s budget is, what ties it has with various
publishers, and ultimately what the general public is led to believe about the
game long before they even buy it. The assumed loser being the consumer.
Another example of businessmen
greed damaging own image is
the recent reveal of the Xbox One. It was something people really waited a long
time for but when they finally revealed it Microsoft got “booed” right there
and then. There were a few reasons behind that. Originally, on Xbox One you
had to connect to the internet at least once every 24 hours the console would
not function unless you did, they made sure you could not share and lend games
to your friends, you could only log into your online account on another console
for no longer than an hour. This has caused a huge disappointment. Purely
because it showed how Microsoft wanted to squeeze as much as they could out of
their customers. Because it would force people to buy Xbox Live, if you were not
sure if you are going to like a game your friends happen to have, you would not
be able to lend it to try it out before you buy your own copy. And what about
the old games, that you ca not buy in shops anymore, sometimes you lend them of
people for that reason and that reason only, it is not a crime. And as for the
hour restriction to using your own profile on another console? It is very
common practise to log into your profile when at a friend’s house when playing
together, purely because gamers tend to care about their gamerscore, and they
will use every opportunity to bump it up. ‘Since that event, Microsoft had
famously changed several of the policies originally outlined.’ The system is without a doubt controlled
by numerous forces – but ultimately, it is the consumer that is the person
still most in control. The reason Call of Duty games continue to be recycled
and remade over and over again is because in spite of all the complaints, in
spite of all the disgruntled customers, there is still a market that exists
that enjoys playing the games. The vast majority of games are still made and
marketed towards young males. Why? Because it remains the largest demographic
of those who purchase and play video games. The consumers are still the most
controlling force. The launch of the Xbox One is a perfect example of this. Its
initial sales failed in comparison to the PS4 and previous generations of
consoles not for lack of vision… not for lack of innovation… not for lack of
games – but based on one metric: it was not what most people wanted. ‘While it's certainly reassuring to hear
that the Xbox team is invested in making the Xbox One the system that gamers
expect and want, there is still clearly much work to be done.’ Microsoft
scrambled to fix the problems. Public relations frantically performed damage
control. Engineers were told one minute to design certain features, only to be
informed shortly later to scratch the idea and create something entirely
different.
The Xbox One’s fate was inevitable – the damage was done.
Game Over. All the hype in the world – all the Mountain Dew advertisements and
celebrity endorsements couldn’t revive the image people had originally
envisioned.
Milking cash out of customers, is a fair argument founded
on many well-established truths, but it is also flawed and misleading for
several reasons. The same profit-steering dynamics are shown in all industries,
not just gaming. In fact, they are found in every aspect of the world. It is
existed since the very beginning of its infancy – only now in our information
age of access is it more apparent. And as shown by several examples and
metrics, the consumer, gamers, are ultimately still the ones most in control,
even if at times it does not feel like it. The strange, unexpected reality is that
in many ways it is actually making things BETTER. Close up, elements of the
industry appear manipulative and despicable – and many of them are. But taking
a step back and looking at the whole picture, one realizes that many of the
greatest aspects of what consumers love about games and gaming have only come
about because of these necessary
evils.
Propelled forward by “evil” forces. For decades, many
artists, writers, and programmers were steered away from a career in the gaming
industry because they feared it would not be lucrative enough to support a
family. Now, majors and even entire colleges are dedicated to the science and
art of game design. Why? Because there is now money to be made. Careers. Jobs.
It is not money that is evil, but the love of money. The negatives created when
people cast aside their morals solely to attain more money.
Summarising, maybe we should not be so harsh on any of the
game producers. Yes they do sometimes push their luck a little. But in the end
it is all down to us to make sure they do not. Gamers are still ultimately in
control what was proven by Microsoft swift change of the new console purely
because their fans were not happy with it. ‘we will continue to listen to your feedback.’ They are still perfecting it as we speak,
adding more and more servers to eliminate lag, coming up with new challenges
and competitions. Maybe we should take a step back and think of an overall
image before judge them on how much they charge us, because a lot of people’s
time and money went into it at first place. It’s a huge market and creates a
lot of job positions too. Gamers can even get a job as a tester in the company
they love and help the development! And if Gamers were not so hard to please,
always expecting something huge maybe the games would not be pushed beyond
their limits and costing us a fortune.
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