Is gaming becoming too main stream??

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08-10-2002
Highlite23

Is gaming becoming too main stream??

Is gaming becoming too mainstream? I can't remember a time when so many different retailers stocked games and consoles. Every store has a section, now Blockbuster and Hollywood Video are going full bore with gaming, hell even both my local mom & pop video stores stock games.

You here about consoles more regularlly than ever, in the news, on the radio, tv ads, etc...

Is the gaming industry reaching it's peak? Will it all just fisal and die?

Gaming consoles went from the so called "Game Geeks" owning them to replacing the VCR in most american homes.

Warren Spector made reference to this in his interview in this months OXM, comparing it to the comic book industry. Comic books were "THE" thing, but as fast as that popularity came, it went away. It literally dissapeared.

Is it all getting too big? Is greed starting to take hold? Are sub-par games going to be the norm just so they can keep producing a highler volume of games in a shorter amount of time?

Please through in your 2 cents.;)
08-10-2002
GokuX

When Nike starts making clothes specifically to be worn while gaming, then I'll be concerned.
08-10-2002
Hugh_Jass

This industry has ebb and tide. I doubt it will ever die. Back in the day, Atari 2600 ruled the roost. Then the industry all but died until the NES came out. Fads come and go, but people like playing games and that will never change.

I feel lucky to have witnessed the boom of coin-ops in the 80s. That was a special time we'll never see again. I doubt anyone who hasn't lived through it realizes what an impact it had on our lives. There were arcades on every corner and just about every store had at least one coin-op. It infused our music, clothing, movies, and television programs. It seemed the whole country was excited and eager to become gamers.

The games have become more sophisticated since then, but we've never recaptured the magic of the early days.
08-10-2002
BlindSniper

whats so bad about having xboxes all over the place? I love the fact that they are putting xbox accesories in rental stores so i dont have to drive awhile to get to a local eb or sumtin.
08-10-2002
sinizuh

before NES, there was no Video Game Industry.
08-10-2002
robnyack

the gaming industry has become HUGE. Yes, it's become very mainstream. What kid, hell what adult male, under 30 do you know that isn't into gaming, whether it be on the pc or a game console?

I'm 37 and I've been into gaming ever since the early arcade boom in the ealy 80s. Since then, it's ebbed and flowed, popular for a while, then not so popular for a while. But, over the last 3 years or so, gaming has taken off in popularitiy like never before.

And in my opinion, that is a good thing. That means more game developers trying to get a cut of the ever increasing pie of gaming dollars. That means more variety, and better games.
08-10-2002
Marc

Hugh_Jass: I feel the same way about the coin-op boom of the eighties. That was a priviledge to behold.
08-10-2002
peejay2288

Re: Is gaming becoming too main stream??

Quote:

Originally posted by highlite23
Is gaming becoming too mainstream? I can't remember a time when so many different retailers stocked games and consoles. Every store has a section, now Blockbuster and Hollywood Video are going full bore with gaming, hell even both my local mom & pop video stores stock games.

You here about consoles more regularlly than ever, in the news, on the radio, tv ads, etc...

Is the gaming industry reaching it's peak? Will it all just fisal and die?

Gaming consoles went from the so called "Game Geeks" owning them to replacing the VCR in most american homes.

Warren Spector made reference to this in his interview in this months OXM, comparing it to the comic book industry. Comic books were "THE" thing, but as fast as that popularity came, it went away. It literally dissapeared.

Is it all getting too big? Is greed starting to take hold? Are sub-par games going to be the norm just so they can keep producing a highler volume of games in a shorter amount of time?

Please through in your 2 cents.;)

define "main stream"
08-11-2002
Mercury

I believe that games today are becoming too main stream, but I think that's a good thing. Without it being this way we wouldn't be having the competition that we do now. And that breeds innovation and advancements. My biggest fear is that the graphics side of games will be too highly depended upon as the years go on and gameplay takes a backseat. This is already evident in most games today. I just hope that it doesn't continue.
08-11-2002
Whisper

more games = good ... what are we debating here people?
08-11-2002
Magnum Blast

Quote:

Originally posted by sinizuh
before NES, there was no Video Game Industry.

Uh what do you mean by that? Are you saying that systems like the Atari 2600/5200/7800, the Intellivision, Colecovision, etc. did nothing for the industry?
08-11-2002
Whisper

pong is still fun..

bleep, boop, bleep, boop, bleep, boop, deeee
08-11-2002
Bakeman

I'm gonna say no it's not to mainstream..

And this is why.....

NFL Fever recently came out. I waited until Friday because I know that video stores never get it on the day it's released. So I call 4 video stores in town (2 blockbusters, 2 hollywood videos). No one had it. One hollywood video store told me that they don't know when they are gonna get it. THEY DON'T KNOW!!?!?!?!?!!? The guy told me they just get shipments of games and they don't know what and when they get their video games. This is a fairly large video store, I would have thought they knew when they got their games.

SO NO IT's not mainstream enough!! I guess now and days you have to have money out the arse so you can just go buy video games when they come out and hope you like them.

BTW I still have not found Enclave for rent.. Didn't that come out a couple of weeks ago?
08-11-2002
Frink

Quote:

Originally posted by Hugh_Jass
This industry has ebb and tide. I doubt it will ever die. Back in the day, Atari 2600 ruled the roost. Then the industry all but died until the NES came out. Fads come and go, but people like playing games and that will never change.

I feel lucky to have witnessed the boom of coin-ops in the 80s. That was a special time we'll never see again. I doubt anyone who hasn't lived through it realizes what an impact it had on our lives. There were arcades on every corner and just about every store had at least one coin-op. It infused our music, clothing, movies, and television programs. It seemed the whole country was excited and eager to become gamers.

The games have become more sophisticated since then, but we've never recaptured the magic of the early days.

But we are going through a whole different revolution now. As the people of the 80's felt that the coin-ops having superior graphics to the 1 or 2 pong machines they had seen in there life time. They were seeing the Galaga's, Galaxian's, Pac-man's, and Centipede's, that blew games like Pong out of the water.

Now, we are in a different revolution. We are seeing the Halo's, Brute Forces, Morrowind's, Metal Gear Solid's, and Tony Hawk's, like we have never seen gaming before. Not only superior graphics, but just all around fun games. Just as it was in the 80's we are now having a revoultion, of jumping from the Nintendo 64's graphics (now considered primative by many) to the superior graphics and power of the Xbox, Gamecube, and PS2.

Who know's if it's going mainstream, only time will tell. But ever since the 80's in my opinion, games have been mainstream. Everyone from the local computer nerd down the street, to the captain of the football team, has a console in there homes. It might be more mainstream now, but ever since the Atari, gaming has become mainstream.
08-11-2002
BattleCruiser

Gaming to mainstream?

No!!

Why?

Gaming (especially on a console) still has a geek stigma to it. But this stigma is changing. When the PSX was released, it was still considered childsplay due to SEGA and NINTENDO markets. After several years of the PSX being on the market, some adults started to begin gaming again, but I think they were more PCgamers looking for a different thrill. This started the slow ebb to mainstream.

The PS2 probably really started the the adult gamers move to consoles. IT finally provided some more adult entertainment that was normally found on the PC. Plus it gave the the PC Gamer a system that in theory ended the continual yearly system upgrades that excedded the cost of a console.

After MS anounced the XBOX and geared it more the adult gamer, we began to see gaming go more mainstream.

I myself began gaming with pong. My dad bought it in the early 70's and I was not able to use it for quite a few years afterwords. My next system wasn't till ColecoVision (still got it). Used to play atari at freinds house before that but only when we didn't have enough quarters. I liked the colecovision over the atari because it was more of an arcade emulator at the time.

After the ColecoVision I left the consoles for the PC but now I am back with the XBOX due to the fact that I am fed up with the high upgrade costs of the PC. On component a year can cover the cost of the console. And I am not alone, I know a lot who feel the same.

Sorry for rambling.
08-11-2002
sinizuh

Quote:

Originally posted by Magnum Blast
Uh what do you mean by that? Are you saying that systems like the Atari 2600/5200/7800, the Intellivision, Colecovision, etc. did nothing for the industry?

sure... a nice little group of consoles... but as japanese consoles moved to north america, the industry boomed... back then, when someone thought video games, Nintendo came to mind... now, it's playstation. but more people are noticing gamecue and xbox (but all they remember is cube and x :P)

maybe cause i wasn't around for the post nintendo gaming era, i wouldn't know. most gaming done in the 80s were arcades. with the 90s, came the domination of consoles and home gaming (including PCs)