[Speculation] Next Gen

So, I was watching this (the TGS podcast it's about 3 hours but it's highly entertaining) and they mentioned that it's been two years now that we have been expecting the "next generation" of consoles. Two years now we've been bombarded with 'leaks' and been at the edge of our seats (figuratively speaking of course.) about the supposed PS4 and the 720. This got me thinking. Jesse mentioned that the least big tech race was Blu-Ray vs HD DvD, and that was mid last decade. In the recent years there has been a huge shift to the PC market, and why not? Consoles aren't getting any better. The only thing we know is that they are 'in development'. Computers get better every day. If you want the best experiences gaming wise, that's where you look. All Microsoft and Sony have been doing is pushing add ons for there existing consoles, trying to get them to appeal to more people, neither is significantly better.


But, why the wait? The PS3 and 360 are both over five years old at this point, a computer from five years ago wouldn't even be relevant at this time. Why is it that we haven't heard about new tech at this point? They have been very, very tight lipped, and it's a little frightening. To me, they have to be trying to push this gen as far as it will go, but for what? Fans would eat up a new generation. We have been waiting years at this point, the 720 would be probably sell out (providing it's not that expensive, of course.). This leads me to believe that they are waiting for something. They have to be waiting for some bug push in technology that they know is coming but they can't talk about.


Of course, I could be wrong, but it makes sense to me.

What do I hope to accomplish?

Well. It's a very good question. Most gamers out there hate journalists, they look at us and see biased incompetent fools that only care about the paycheck. Here's the thing. This is what I want to do. My passion is video games and I don't care if I have to get a "real" job to support doing this. It would be nice to make a living off of talking about video games. But hell, that isn't even my long term goal, let alone a short term goal.


I'm sorry about talking about myself on my "professional blog". This won't happen often, I promise. This is solely to "sell" myself so to speak. Why listen to what I have to say, as compared to say G4, or Joystiq (even though I would love to eventually work full time for either of those places.) I guess it's really a "why do I want to get into this industry where a lot of gamers are going to hate me?" question. Well. The answer is simple. I want to provide an unbiased opinion (as much as possible at least) and get information out to gamers.


I have been doing this for eight months now, and I really love it. I can talk about games for hours. I have an opinion on everything that I hear about in the gaming world. I'm not an Xbox fanboy, or a PS3 fanboy. I don't consider myself part of the "PC master race". I game on all three platforms. I enjoy Nintendo games a lot, although I do not own a Wii (Plan to buy a Wii U though!). I am a gamer, and really? I love talking about games.


The only reason I am writing this is because of this. I do not think the game industry is dyeing. I think that there are still developers out there who care. If we didn't buy the games these "evil" publishers would make no money. They have to have the developers make likable games. And in truth? I had fun playing Skyrim, Diablo 3, Mass Effect 3, and Rage. I loved Battlefield 3, and Assassins Creed Revelations. DRM isn't the end of the world (although it is certainly annoying!) and if DLC adds to a game I love I will get it. If it doesn't I find the games perfectly playable without said DLC. In fact, I don't really buy DLC. I bought the Oblivion and Fallout game of the year editions. I have considered buying the Borderlands DLC, just because I would like to play through it before Borderlands 2 comes out.


So what do I hope to accomplish? What is it I want to do? I want to be a voice of reason in a sea of hate. At least for now. I have found something that I am very passionate about, something that I love more then anything else. People tell you to do what you love, so you don't despise your job. Video games are what I love.  If I told someone I wanted to be a doctor, or a lawyer they would look at me just as funny, and ask if I was to the 8+ years of school it would take. You know what I would say? I would say that I'm not up to it, because I wouldn't be. I would hate that. I write. It's what I do. I talk about my opinions, and I find that often people agree with me. I browse reddit, and get angry about things that get said there. I watch youtubers, and marvel at how often I know more then them about the games they are talking about. I play video games, and talk about what made them good/bad. I've always had this... fascination with them.


So, now that I have gotten all that off my chest, I can go to actual game content. Thank you for reading, and supporting what I do. I appreciate every page view, I appereciate every comment, ever +1 on google, every reader, and if I happen to start making money, I will appreciate every dollar made. I would never want to lose sight of the fact that my readers make my life possible. Thank you. Past readers, future readers, Current readers. I know this blog isn't popular yet, but if it ever is I would appreciate it, and I'll just keep working on it until it is.

The Casualization of Gaming

As we all know gaming has become a very big industry, and the best and most talanted designers are always trying to out do each other for our attention. Production costs have skyrocketed, and it seems our favorite franchises are only getting simpler as time goes on. The question is why?

My theory for this? Games are getting simpler because they have to. To break even a studio has to sell "x" amount of games. As the production costs get higher, "x" becomes a larger number. To appeal to more people to ensure that "x" amount is sold, they dumb down the game, to try to get newcomers.

 It's not surprising that "Farmville" a free to play game by Zynga is one of the most profitable games of all time. It has a very low production cost, presumably and anyone can pick it up and start playing whenever they want. Of course, there is stuff for real money, but most people fool themselves into thinking they will never pay real money for it. They do of course. This is because the gameplay (from what I've heard/read) is so simple that even a house mom who has never played a video game before can pick it up, and do well. When you do well at a video game, psychologically you will want to come back to it. MMO's use this same kind of logic. If you feel good at it, and that you are being rewarded for your efforts you will want to keep coming back for more.

However this "dumming down the game" logic is putting people off as well. There were a lot of people dissatisfied with Skyrim because it felt shallower then Oblivion/Marrowind. Same with World of Warcraft, people have been dissatisfied with it because Blizzard has been making things easier such as getting into dungeons/raids, as well as making getting gear easier. It is a very interesting concept. A lot of people see it as designers turning their backs on the people that made them popular in the first place. I don't see it that way. If you look at WoW, in Wrath of the Lich King Blizzard introduced "Heroic" raids for people who want the extra challenge (although, they do seem to have difficulty tuning the heroics for the right group of people.) If companies can learn to design games for the masses, and for the "core" fans, I think that a happy medium can indeed be reached.

The problem? I don't think that many companies will  try to appease both groups. I think that most will try to grab the majority, and leave the "core" because it would just be more development time and money to try to please both. Don't get me wrong, some will. Some may even do it right. But I don't think most will.