The students were also surveyed on video game products and other consumer electronics. Results of the survey point out 79 percent of student households have at least one video game platform and 58 percent of students stating that they are occasional game players (playing at least monthly). In addition, 65 percent of student households own Sony’s PS2, 50 percent own Microsoft’s Xbox and 26 percent own Nintendo’s GameCube. GameStop was recognized in the survey as the leading retailer for pre-owned video games with 60 percent market share and 29 percent market share for teen video game purchases. The survey also pointed out that 75 percent of teens say their interest in video games is declining and 78 percent indicated they spent less time playing in 2005.
75% saying their interest is declining? Wow… Is this just a matter of timing (since not a whole lot has been released so far this year and we’re at the end of this gen), or a trend well on its way?
Could just be that kids are realizing that a lot of the games right now are tired and rehashed. You know, kind of like how most of our gaming tendencies have gone down over the years.
Used to be I’d buy a game every week or two, and play it religiously. Nowadays, most of it is shit, and I’m lucky if I get two or three really good games in a year.
Could just be that kids are realizing that a lot of the games right now are tired and rehashed. You know, kind of like how most of our gaming tendencies have gone down over the years.
Used to be I’d buy a game every week or two, and play it religiously. Nowadays, most of it is shit, and I’m lucky if I get two or three really good games in a year.[/quote]
Which forum have you been reading? The Xbox 360 is looking to have an incredible launch, approximately 5 billion titles have been announced for the Nintendo DS, and people are complaining about the massive beatings their wallets are going to have to sustain in the next several months.
I do not like the current games that are coming out. Therefore other people do not like the current games coming out.
I like RPGs and 2d shooters. I won’t be buying a 360 when it comes out. I don’t say that “most of it is shit”. Expecting an RPG at launch is a recipe for disaster. Beyond the Beyond anyone?
The survey also pointed out that 75 percent of teens say their interest in video games is declining and 78 percent indicated they spent less time playing in 2005.
The Japanese market shrank dramatically over the last few years due mostly to this very thing as well as adults tuning out. Most folks believed it would eventually spread to other parts of the world. This could be a sign that it’s starting to happen here.
Innovation is one of the key elements of the gaming biz, and we’ve been stuck in fixed genres for almost a decade now with only incremental improvements. Look at the continuing popularity of CounterStrike and Diablo II, for chrissakes. How old are those games again? There’ve been better-looking and more innovative top-down shooters than Galaga, but for some reason, that game became the popular one, and people lost interest in top-down shooters after that… if you’d played Galaga, you’d played 'em all. WOW has pretty much nailed the MMORPG genre. There’ll be improvements, but no one will care.
After some point, all genres become stale. Someone’s still making dixieland jazz songs somewhere, but nobody needs them; the style has been done through.
If you’re a teen and your parents are into something, odds are you’re not going to be into it. Now that old-school gamers have teenage kids, guess what? “No, Dad, I will not play BattleWarOps Korea on the PS2 with you; I have football practice tonight.”
Innovation is one of the key elements of the gaming biz, and we’ve been stuck in fixed genres for almost a decade now with only incremental improvements. Look at the continuing popularity of CounterStrike and Diablo II, for chrissakes. How old are those games again? There’ve been better-looking and more innovative top-down shooters than Galaga, but for some reason, that game became the popular one, and people lost interest in top-down shooters after that… if you’d played Galaga, you’d played 'em all. WOW has pretty much nailed the MMORPG genre. There’ll be improvements, but no one will care.
After some point, all genres become stale. Someone’s still making dixieland jazz songs somewhere, but nobody needs them; the style has been done through.
If you’re a teen and your parents are into something, odds are you’re not going to be into it. Now that old-school gamers have teenage kids, guess what? “No, Dad, I will not play BattleWarOps Korea on the PS2 with you; I have football practice tonight.”[/quote]
Innovation is nice, but it’s not necessary for everything. Lots of things that are static remain extremely popular. Take sports for example – pretty much all of the major sports are essentially the same game they were a hundred years ago, but they’re as popular as ever. Yes, video games are a different animal, but I just don’t buy that video game genres become passé simply because of their lack of significant change. A good game is a good game.
Obviously when a major change does occur, it can have the effect of deprecating on older genre. See the effect of RTS games on TBS games.
Oh yes, for sure. There are plenty of game styles that I like despite not having changed. See 2d castlevania and metroid.
Thing is, I like classics. But what I don’t like is 99% of the tripe that gets released nowadays. Because most of it isn’t what I like. My tastes have narrowed as I got older, and fewer games entertain me. It’s not necessarily about innovation… the last ‘innovative’ game I liked was Deus Ex.
