All i'm really saying is that it seems like the model in Japan is a lot more stable than the model in the West. This is largely because they can balance the low and mid-range titles with the larger budget titles. I think that's where the big difference is (along with the handheld example that I gave earlier). That market really doesn't seem to exist in the West, and that ends up forcing those developers to bet big or go home. So you see THQ pumping 35-50m into Homefront just so it can be mentioned in the same breath as Battlefield and Call of Duty.
digital anvil
What kind of thinking is this?
Graphics and budgets should not improve because studios are closing? No thank you. Survival of the fittest.
All i'm really saying is that it seems like the model in Japan is a lot more stable than the model in the West. This is largely because they can balance the low and mid-range titles with the larger budget titles. I think that's where the big difference is (along with the handheld example that I gave earlier). That market really doesn't seem to exist in the West, and that ends up forcing those developers to bet big or go home. So you see THQ pumping 35-50m into Homefront just so it can be mentioned in the same breath as Battlefield and Call of Duty.
Some publishers/devs just need to accept or realize that they don't need to compete with Uncharted, Call of Duty, Gears etc. in terms of budget. And the gaming media actually needs to support those developers by giving their games coverage. You see Japanese sites/mags giving a lot of attention to titles that have small budgets (like Nippon Ichi or Gust titles) and that obviously helps them in the long run.
I think that that market does exist in the West its just on platforms that most gamers and therefor the gaming media doesn't pay much attention to. Personally I can think of quite a few PC devs that make titles that fall into what I would consider mid to low end range and from what i can tell do pretty well. I am assuming that there are even more that make games that are in areas I generally don't pay much attention to (F2P, social, etc) do to personal taste. Also I don't want to forget to mention that it seems like indie titles also seem to be doing pretty well on the PC. So the low end might be doing pretty well as well.
I think the problem from what I can see is that for whatever reason the mid tier for consoles has pretty much disappeared. Though in all honesty that might be a good thing for me as a PC gamer since it seems that while it is declining on the consoles it is getting better on the PC.
That at least is how I interpret what I have read over the years I could be off.
you can throw action forms (of "carnivores" fame) up there if we're just chalking them up. they went dormant sometime after releasing cryostasis, one of my favourite games of the last five years, and since their website is now just a rampant malware hole, i think it's safe to call them dead.
The mid tier never dissapeared from consoles, it just costs exactly the same as high quality games and thus isn't able to compete.
Variable pricing structures would go a long way to allow for more experimentation and more business models to flourish.
XBLA and Steam are a good beginning, but they aren't nearly enough yet.
Team Bondi :'(
Pandemic and bigBIG bring particularly poignant tears to my eyes.
*sniff*
Hudson hit me like a ton of bricks...
Was hudson getting eaten/repurposed a bigger deal in Japan? It'd almost be like SEGA being bought by capcom and only making facebook games, but I haven't seen the western community caring very much...
It also seemed to come out of freaking nowhere.
Half of Midway studios were bought by Warner Bros. Midway Chicago (now NetherRealms), Surreal Software and Midway San Diego. The latter was since bought by THQ and I think they are working on the UFC games.
One last point: yes, this list is depressing, but I'm pretty sure the list of studios created from 2006-2012 is much longer than the one below.
ignorance is blissscroll, click, NEW THREAD: is this a gaming golden age??????
You forgot to put Rare on that list.
While this is undoubtedly true, you can not really compare the vast majority of those new studios to the ones they were replacing since most of the new studios only make small iOS, Droid and social network type games.
I have no umbrage for 4.99 games and the studios that make them but most of those new game studios have very little in common with the ones the industry lost who made medium to large budget games.
Even the shovel-ware developers, every once in a while got to work on or graduated to making bigger more respectable retail projects.
It's like losing a Sony Vita someone buys you an Atari Lynx as a replacement.
Were Core Design closed in 2006?
No, it was sold to Rebellion, became Rebellion Derby, and closed under that name. So technically it's there.
It seems pretty sparse to me if I am being honest. Now I won't say that I know every game that releases on the consoles, but from doing a quick search it seems that most of the games fall into either high end big budget block busters or low end bargin or indie games. There are a couple middle of the road titles, but they seem to be few and far between.
It looks even worse when I think back and compare it to the previous generation(s). The Ps2 seemed to have plenty of mid tier titles for example.
You are right though in that something needs to be done(I just don't know what exactly) to allow mid ranged titles to thrive once again on the consoles.
I look at that as the exception than the rule. I've seen firsthand where the creative minds said fuck it, and go to a more stable environment: artists pack up and go towards animation studios; programmers pack up and move towards general software development. The temptation for more stability and greater pay may far exceed the desire to be in game development.In some cases it's a negative, but in some ways, creative minds have been freed from the shackles of mid-tier corporate development. The good ideas coming from the indie space eventually make their way into projects from bigger developers -- such as Minecraft's success being an inspiration for Fortnite.
I look at that as the exception than the rule. I've seen firsthand where the creative minds said fuck it, and go to a more stable environment: artists pack up and go towards animation studios; programmers pack up and move towards general software development. The temptation for more stability and greater pay may far exceed the desire to be in game development.
The problem is that it's survival of the biggest. I'm quite confident that there are many developers who have better ideas and/or more talent than, say, most EA developers have. But there's a problem: the first step in competing with EA is 1) Have 50 Million dollars to invest, develop, and market a game. The number of studios which have this at their disposal is very low.
This is why most creative markets with extremely high budgets (like console games, but also like movies) are also noted for creative stagnation. There's little reason for EA/Activision/Etc. to innovate when they only realistically have about 5 other competitors. Even very large companies like THQ cannot consistently compete, let alone anyone smaller.
So it really depends on what you consider to be the most important: innovation and creativity, or high production values? Because those two qualities are directly at odds in virtually every medium.
Ha. This is why I feel that MMOs and 'social' games are the most devious pieces of entertainment ever devised. MMOs with monthly subscriptions especially thrive on monopolizing those 15$ of your monthly entertainment budget and big amounts of your time by offering something you want and a billion other things that target your compulsions, like a scab you can't help picking at. Social gaming on Facebook uses your voice to produce it's own word of mouth and then there's the whole tit-for-tat mechanic built into them, which uses 'being a nice person' to its advantage. Yeah of course I'm going to help out a friend on his imaginary, worthless farm. It's fucking ingenious. but I despise this type of design so, so much.Nowadays however it's more like how to get between those resources and those that wish to use them, and how to stay there.
I still don't get why Ensemble was closed. From what I can tell, every game they ever made was at least a million seller. Halo Wars was the best selling console RTS game ever (not saying much, I know). Their Age of Empires games sold 20million copies in a little over a decade.
All of this is very true, and of a lot of different industries.
People always talk about free and fair competition and survival of the fittest in business, but truly free competition would never waste resources attempting to be fair. The concept that a free competitive system could function as an even playing field affected only by talent, effort, and desire is pure idealism and in reality proves to be ironic when put into practice.
Businesses don't survive because they have great ideas and innovation, they survive because they find ways to make or borrow more money than they have to spend; great ideas and innovation are merely another potential means to an end. As a company gets bigger, many things such as credit, leverage, stability, politics, all give them a leg up over smaller companies. Joe Blow can't wake up one morning and simply through force of will and desire start a production company. Everything business is and always has been about available resources and how to connect them and those that wish to use them. Nowadays however it's more like how to get between those resources and those that wish to use them, and how to stay there.
I suppose though that the reality of the world throughout human history is that millions of ideas perish before ever being heard, and talent is wasted constantly and in tremendous volumes.
Microsoft just got tired of running an RTS Studio.
underground development (used to be z-axis, they did aggressive inline, bmx xxx, and thrasher skateboarding way back in the day)
also surreal software, I believe..? and tilted mill & blue fang have pretty much bit the dust by now.. also thought that I heard collision was gone as well, and for that matter epicenter studios too.
I'd love to see these plotted on a map.
Bizarre Creations
RIP Sweet Prince
I still don't get why Ensemble was closed. From what I can tell, every game they ever made was at least a million seller. Halo Wars was the best selling console RTS game ever (not saying much, I know). Their Age of Empires games sold 20million copies in a little over a decade.