VG sales keep on slumping, 7th month in a row

[OmegaMerc]

http://ds.ign.com/articles/702/702198p1.html

Another drop in game sales in the US. March only racked in about half a billion dollars; someone feed the video game makers! they're starvin! :p:

[VulgarHandle]

people have quake 3, what more do they need? besides better pc's for q4

[ozzimark]

doesn't really surprise me. i honestly haven't played any games other than ddr and old school games in a long time. the newer stuff just doesn't hold my interest :(

[Revv23]

It is my belief that this is becaue of the cost involved in making video games.

The investment it takes to make a videogame means that for a videogame to be considered investors have to know it will sell before the idea even gets on paper. Therefor, only tried and true forumlas will be turned into games. And we can only have so many maddens or grand theft auto's or rollercoaster tycoon's before we get bored.

With the cost of production creativity and experimentation goes out the window in favor of run of the mill decent games that are known to sell.

[situman]

However complex the games turns out to be is really up to the programmer. No one said a game has to complicated in order for it to be fun. Just because a vidcard has the power to provide 100000fps doesn't mean the games has to take full advantage of it. The slump in videogame sales is really the video game company's fault. They keep trying to "out cool" each other that they forgot "its all about the gameplay stupid!" I'll play a game of Starcraft over any of the modern games anyday. I'll spend a day playing the original The Legend of Zelda anyday over even Gran Tourismo.

[Jeff]

I still play Pac-Man, Wizard of Wor, and Donkey Kong. ;) (seriously... I do...)

[einCe]

It is my belief that this is becaue of the cost involved in making video games.

The investment it takes to make a videogame means that for a videogame to be considered investors have to know it will sell before the idea even gets on paper. Therefor, only tried and true forumlas will be turned into games. And we can only have so many maddens or grand theft auto's or rollercoaster tycoon's before we get bored.

With the cost of production creativity and experimentation goes out the window in favor of run of the mill decent games that are known to sell.
ddr ftw

[[XC] leviathan18]

this is why i love nintendo games they follow the KISS rule....

zelda, the wario games, mario series etc they are fun to play with nice graphics

[VulgarHandle]

i'm buying the nintendo revolution so i can download 20yrs of games :D seriously

1-handed super metroid, who wants some?

[canadian-guy]

buy the hottest game out - 50$
buy a killer rig to play the hottest game out - 2000$
to come home and play hours of mario for nes - priceless :p:

[gr8golf]

I refuse to run pirated versions of games - tho many ppl I know do. I pony up the cash in the retail channel to support those guys that are working to get them out there for me.

I maintain top of the line gaming hardware and play the latest, greatest games in large measure because I love to see the technology evolve. My PC would have been considered a supercomputer not too long ago.

[ahmad]

All the good games are already out. Besides, WoW is still raking in the cash.

I am guessing Doom III and FEAR are responsible for this :p:

[mursaat]

Well, devs seem only try to go for the blink but they forget about the gameplay. Some time ago (IIRC in a PhysX thread) I said when they will release a A.I.PU? If you look at the sales you will probably see a lot of online games selling really well compared to its offline counterparts. And that's because of a lame A.I.

It's a shame but it's true. It's all about gameplay, and gameplay is (a lot) about A.I. I really :drool: in FEAR and FarCry when the bad guys round you, ask for support, jump over the fence, etc. MUCH more than seeing an HDR flare over a leaf when the sun's on sight :D

[BrownTown]

no good games really. Half Life 2 is the only game i've bought this millinium (sounds kinda crazy, but its true), and it along with Half Life 1 have been all i've needed due to modding communities. That and the fact that HL2 is the only decent game nowadays that can still run on a 32meg ati mobility radeon 9000, even when its 4 pipes are overclocked to a blistering 248/232 :D :( .

[CandymanCan]

However complex the games turns out to be is really up to the programmer. No one said a game has to complicated in order for it to be fun. Just because a vidcard has the power to provide 100000fps doesn't mean the games has to take full advantage of it. The slump in videogame sales is really the video game company's fault. They keep trying to "out cool" each other that they forgot "its all about the gameplay stupid!" I'll play a game of Starcraft over any of the modern games anyday. I'll spend a day playing the original The Legend of Zelda anyday over even Gran Tourismo.


Yep i totally agree. Alot of people and video game makers think because a game has great graphics the game will be awsome. Not true alot of newer games havent held any interest to me on the pc @ least because most focus on graphics and nothing more.

The games on the PS2 ect for exsample most of them are really great games. Can you imagine playing say Spyro or some Dynasty warrior's or a game like that with graphics like BF2 or something it just doesnt seem right to me it isnt fun . It just ruins the gameplay for me, now some games are really great and have good graphics like HL2 was great, Farcry was awsome BF2 is fun.

The Xbox 360 and the upcomming PS3 i think is what is gonna kill the video game market. There to focused on how things look nowadays then how well the game play is.

[incurable]

The game I played the most in the past 3-4 months was Civ 3, and that I got as a free w/ one of my regular computer games magazines. There's nothing interesting out there, no wonder sales are slow.