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[sol5377]

I pose this question because normally all of us would think that having lots and lots of good games coming out all over the place is a very good problem to have, but what about the developers and publishers of those games? What if, despite growth in the videogame market, good and great games have a hard time making profits for their creators because of all the intense competition out there? For example, you've got quality games like Oddworld Stranger, Ico, Beyond Good & Evil, Prince of Persia, Metal Arms, Resident Evil 4, and so many more garnering less than deserving sales (in many peoples' opinions). Now it can be argued that these types of quality games that sell less than they really should haven't sold what they should have because when they've been released, there were so many other good games for buyers to purchase instead.

When there are gaming droughts, like in the old days, most quality games (which were more rare than today) got all the attention in sales and hype, and deservedly so. In this past generation there have been so many good games that most gamers can hardly keep up (hence all the huge backlogs people have amassed). Before you even get to sink your teeth into one quality game, the next one is released and the hype is almost too much to bare, making you want to get that game too, and the cycle repeats itself until you find yourself swamped. In the upcoming generation (360 / PS3 / Rev / PC / Handhelds / Xbox / PS2 / Mobile) there just so many potentially good to great games that it's going to be hard for us (the gamers) to keep up with and even harder for the developers and publishers to have their games stand out of the pack. Will quality game makers bite the dust? Will there be even more consolidation? Will the market grow enough to compensate for all the new game releases?

 

[UltraMagnanimous]

"Are there too many good games?"

No.


Have our standards dropped?

Yes.


Is there any hope?

Very little.

 

[FortNinety]

I bought Resident Evil 4 near time of launch, and have yet to even put it in my Cube due to the 30 other awesome games I'm still trying to get through. So yeah, I'd say so.

 

[FortNinety]

"Have our standards dropped?

Yes.

If anything, I think many folks standards have risen to ridiculous perportions. If a game doesn't have 100+ hours of gameplay, custom soundtracks, and insanse diffifulty levels, its now deemed a rip-off by some.

 

[NotMSRP]

I don't know about the custom soundtracks and difficulty demands but there's an absurd demand from gamers expecting eternal gameplay length. Yet a lot of them probably download the games anyways.

 

[Tsubaki]

If anything, I think many folks standards have risen to ridiculous perportions. If a game doesn't have 100+ hours of gameplay, custom soundtracks, and insanse diffifulty levels, its now deemed a rip-off by some.

Yes... but those people aren't real gamers anyway.

I agree with everything UltraMagnanimous said. Standards have dropped to the point where mediocre games are considered good just because they're "not bad". Standards should probably actually rise, because as more and more games come out, there's more and more competition for your time so why spend it on passable competent games, when you could be focusing on the best of the best?

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Yes... but those people aren't real gamers anyway.

I agree with everything UltraMagnanimous said. Standards have dropped to the point where mediocre games are considered good just because they're "not bad". Standards should probably actually rise, because as more and more games come out, there's more and more competition for your time so why spend it on passable competent games, when you could be focusing on the best of the best?

I remember spending tons of time on passable competent games in my childhood, whereas now, I weed the MEH out for top tier goodness; mainly because I'm more informed. It also leads to alot more games purchased; one, because I know about great games from all over, and two, I have the funds now to feed that need. Time to play them is the problem.

 

[ToxicAdam]

The internet makes you feel like you are missing out on alot of games. Before I frequented forums, I lived in blissful ignorance of everything I was "missing". Now I will snatch up games, hust because people rave about them, and they are 20 bucks.

 

[spliced]

I don't really have any desire for games to be long anymore, if they are long I either won't get around to completing them or they getting boring near the end.

 

[LittleTokyo]

I think there are still droughts. Typically, the end of a console generation has more great releases than the start of one. Remember the horrible droughts early in the PS2 life-cycle? It will happen again with the next generation of consoles as well.

I would say that 2005, as a year, has been one of the best in gaming history up to this point. It's one of those rare times where almost every game released is at least decent, and most are better than decent.