Hard Core Gamers - Interesting article and comments

[DirtTwister]

I got this in my e-mail to day.   I found it interesting and made me think about the the reactions that everyone has had to MVA.  I figured I would post a link to it here and see what comments others might have.

Article:

http://uk.gamespy.com/articles/701/701787p1.html

Gamespy forum topic:

http://www.forumplanet.com/gamespy/topic.asp?fid=1422&tid=1879390

Bruce

[DirtTwister]

I'm surprised nobody has commented on this yet.  I'll throw in a few.

I found it interesting what people in the industry think.   Laddie Ervin's opinions I'm afraid are typical of people in the industry.  I also believe this mentality is what is causing the rush to consoles, the endless incremental releases of games without much new content, the dumbing down of games with goofy/ridiculous content, and ultimately what I predict will be the big crash in a few years when there are too many crap games out there and not enough people buying them.

The Bioware developers I find have an excellent understanding of reality and can differentiate between the hardcore gamer and the vocal complainers.

Bruce

[Garasaki]

I find it a rather depressing read, particularly Laddie's comments.

Unfortunately, you are right that his answers represent the mentality of the people who make decisions.

I mean, after all, he cited EA sports as a "sucess" whereas for gamers, EA sports represents pure evil.  It really shows the difference in perspective between those who play the games and those who sell them.

However, at the same time, I always hear from my friends how "awesome" and "great" the new madden games are.  Those guys are the ones who go out and buy it every year, and I sure don't.  And those guys outnumber me 5 to 1 or so.  So they put like 250 bucks into the same product I put 30 bucks into (as you can believe I won't be buying a new madden every year).

Money talks. 

I mean, if I had to make a game, I'd cater to those 5 friends rather then catering to myself too.

Another way to look at is that there's been a dramatic change in "gamer's" expectations.  Imagine if someone had plopped MvA into our laps 8 years ago.  We would have went ABSOLUTELY BONKERS about it.  But plop it into our laps now, and there's nothing but complaining.  I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but I don't see how you could argue that that's what happened.

In fact, maybe that's really the answer.  We need to get the casual gamers to be more hardcore and to demand a better product, rather then settling for something inferior (actually, they get excited about something inferior!)

PS I don't really consider myself a hardcore gamer (I sure don't buy many games) but I do consider myself a knowledgable gamer.

[DirtTwister]

The problem is that I contribute to the problem myself.  When EA comes out with some games like the last two NASCAR games for the PC.  I buy them try them and put them on the shelf to get dusty.  All the time I keep wearing out my steering wheel on NASCAR 2003 by Papyrus.  EA feels they are successful, but all they are successful in is filling up my valuable shelf space and trash.  They still have my money though.

I need to stop that.

Bruce

[Garasaki]

EA feels they are successful, but all they are successful in is filling up my valuable shelf space and trash.  They still have my money though.

Exactly.  Their goal is to make money.

Hard to call them un-successful in that endevour.

It really sort of seems that the goals of making a quality game, and making money, are mutally exclusive.

It shouldn't be like that. 

Personally, I'd be willing to pay 10 bucks for an EA game.  And 75 bucks for a quality game.  Maybe introduction of variable pricing could help.  But again, people shop with their wallets.  So EA would still end up outselling everyone. I dunno.  It's a tough cookie to crack...

[AUS_Twisted]

For the first 3 years of my PC gaming I used to buy games straight from a shop without reading any reviews or even trying a demo except for a few of them. Most of those games were played for a short time and put away for good, now I have a heap of PC game boxes in storage lol.

The last 7 years I've pretty much tried every game I've bought before buying it whether it's a demo or downloading the full version, if I like the game a lot I will buy it. I'm not one to try all the latest games etc, I mainly try and buy what interests me and stick with it for years to come as I prefer to get involved with 2 or 3 games then playing 50 different games a year. The last 2 games I've bought is one that Bruce mentioned above and Operation Flashpoint, the next game I will buy is Armed Assault made by the Operation Flashpoint developers (Bohemia Studios). These guys are more dedicated to the hardcore gamers and mod/addon developers of the community, Operation Flashpoint (Bohemias 1st ever game released) has sold almost 2 Million copies on PC, thats pretty awesome for a simulation game. Armed Assault will have options for the casual gamer along with more support and options for the hardcore user, I really think including options for both the casual and hardcore gamer is what makes games a big success aslong as they have good gameplay to go along with it. Bohemia are a independant developer, so they choose what they want in there games.

Bohemia are so dedicated that they post the latest mod/addons for OFP on there website updated every week, I wish more developers thought like them.  http://www.bistudio.com/flashnews/2006/04_April/090406/flashnews_93.html

[Garasaki]

Armed Assault will have options for the casual gamer along with more support and options for the hardcore user, I really think including options for both the casual and hardcore gamer is what makes games a big success aslong as they have good gameplay to go along with it.

I've always thought that was a great idea myself, and a way to really please everyone.

However, the problem is that it costs more money to do that.  Again, it goes back to the almighty dolalr $$$.

Some developers may choose to make that investment, and GREAT for them.  But those developer probably aren't making as much as those who don't put that much effort into the game.  And in the end, they may begin to disappear.

But on the other hand, maybe that approach will allow them to sell more copies, and that could make the investment worthwhile.