game industry

  • Derivative games in 2008

    Hours Categories Game talk
    Comments 22 Comments

    2008 is the year of gaming | Tech news blog – CNET News.com

    Over the course of the next few months, we’ll be inundated with titles that will let us explore totally new worlds and enjoy totally new ways of playing video games. Unlike many other years where most of the titles were derivative, this year we may have something to propel creativity in the industry.

    Emphasis is mine. Their list?

    • Grand Theft Auto IV – sequel
    • Ninja Gaiden 2 – sequel
    • Ghostbusters: The Video Game – semi-sequel, plus the movie is how old?
    • Devil May Cry 4 – sequel
    • Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots – sequel
    • Killzone 2 – sequel
    • Far Cry 2 – sequel
    • Rainbow Six Vegas 2 – sequel
    • Super Smash Bros. Brawl – sequel
    • Mario Kart Wii – sequel
    • Fallout 3 – sequel
    • Lost Odyssey – a spiritual sequel and pretty derivative
    • Fable 2 – sequel
    • Starcraft 2 – sequel
    • Gran Turismo 5 – sequel
    • Little Big Planet
    • Spore

    So, by my count, two. Thank goodness for the smaller titles.

  • The Top 20 PC Games of January

    Hours Categories Game talk
    Comments 43 Comments

    IGN: The Top 20 Best Selling PC Games of January
    US, February 28, 2008

    1. World Of Warcraft – online MMO that is ruling the world
    2. Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – online shooter
    3. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest – oh look, another WoW SKU
    4. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade – and another…
    5. The Sims 2 Deluxe – casual, and old
    6. Diner Dash – casual, and old
    7. 15000 Games – bargain bin filler
    8. The Sim City 4 Deluxe – casual, and beyond old
    9. The Sims 2 Teen Style Stuff – expansion to casual old stuff
    10. Crysis – online shooter charting, but not actually selling much
    11. The Sims 2 Bon Voyage – oh look, more
    12. Half Life 2: Episode 2 The Orange Box – Steam, where is thy sting?
    13. Battlefield 2 – online shooter, again! BTW, did you see their web-embedding announcement?
    14. Warcraft III Battle Chest – Eeep. I need something stronger than “ancient.”
    15. Pirates Of The Burning Sea – yep, another MMO. Not making enough of a dent though. 🙁
    16. Rock Tour Tycoon – casual, and I bet you never heard of this game anyway
    17. Sim City 5: Societies – gasp! A new game!
    18. The Sims 2 Seasons – another expansion…
    19. Age Of Empires III – this game came out in September of 2005.
    20. Age Of Empires III: Asian Dynasties – …but the expansion is only from late ’07

    Why post this?

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  • PC, Flash, and bits on a disc

    Hours Categories Game talk
    Comments 33 Comments

    At the Luminaries Lunch, I made the comment that PC gaming at retail is in dire straits. This is not a particularly controversial comment in the industry — everybody at the table agreed, though Chris Taylor went further, saying  “PC gaming as we know it is dead.” Sales for PC titles at retail are not very good, and have been trending downwards for a long time. The saving grace is WoW, and other MMORPGs — but even WoW is moving towards forms of digital distribution. I also made the comment that Flash seemed to me to be the next console.

    Of course, this led to a massive pile of commentary and articles on the web, including many many negative comments in the discussion threads, which I will attempt to answer here:

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