2/20/00

The Downside of Mainstream Gaming

For the last six months or so, there has been a great deal of hoopla over gaming "breaking into the mainstream". Sales of the Playstation have reached 70 million worldwide, with over 25 million of those sold in the United States. That comes down to 1 out of every 5 U.S. homes having a Playstation in their living rooms. The Dreamcast enjoyed unprecedented launch sales, and the upcoming Playstation2 looks like it will fare even better. Last year, the gaming industry took in more cash than Hollywood, and it looks to best the music industry this year. Video gaming has finally become a legitimate form of entertainment, and new developers and publishers seem to appear on a daily basis. There are now more projects underway than ever before, and, for once, all tastes and genres seem to be supported. So, everything is hunky-dorey, right?

Well, kids, there are two sides to every Schwartz, and this case is no exception. Unfortunately, it seems that, as more and more people adopt video gaming as their entertainment, the median IQ of the gaming population seems to be constantly falling. Let’s face it – there are a lot of morons playing games these days. Between falling console and software prices and constant media exposure, there are a lot of people gaming that wouldn’t be otherwise. It’s true that transition periods often bring out the riff-raff, but this time gaming has become so accepted that everyone with a hundred bucks can get in. Anyone who works in retail will know what I’m talking about. When a new console comes out, the early-adopters, who tend to be an intelligent, if overzealous, lot, grab the system on launch day, as well as any games and peripherals they can get their hands on. There is no griping over price and such – they are only in it for the experience that new hardware has to offer. However, as a console gets on in years and sees several price drops, as in the case of the current Playstation, the scavengers start circling. You see, quality matters not to these people, only price. If a game is cheap, they will buy it; if it is not, they won’t. So, crappy games in the bargain bins suddenly become best-sellers, while new, high-quality software sells only to the hardcore. And this, my friends, is where the problems begin.

Has anyone seen the top ten sales list for 1999? It truly is indicative of the times we live in. Six of the top ten sellers were Pokemon games, which indicates that the age of the gaming population is steadily falling. Three of the remaining best-sellers were Playstation’s Greatest Hits titles, which are sub-$20 titles, showing that gamers are also getting very cheap. That’s right, Final Fantasy VIII, Resident Evil 3, Medal of Honor, Lunar, and all of the wonderful Dreamcast games are nowhere to be found. That sickens me. Surprisingly, the trend wasn’t exclusive to console. In a year that saw Baldur’s Gate, Unreal Tournament, and Alpha Centauri, the best-selling title was the god-forsaken Who Wants to be a Millionaire!!! This is bad. The PC gaming market has always been pretty hardcore due to the high cost of entry – if you wanted a gaming rig, you usually had to shell out a couple grand. However, today Bubba and Clem can drive the tractor up to the local Best Buy and get a "free" computer, as well as any cheap games that happen to be available. If you get enough people doing this, the sales charts change accordingly, making what seems like tripe to you and me into million-sellers. So, publishers start getting a whiff of this, and they begin shifting production to "budget" titles. Then everything goes to hell in a handbasket.

You see, we hardcore are in serious trouble. With the diluting of the fan base, our opinions are going to matter less and less. Take my arch-nemesis Acclaim, for example. They put out garbage on a weekly basis, but they continue to exist. Why? Because Joe Six-Pack and Cletus Tractorpull see junk like WWF Attitude, Armorines, and NFL Quarterback Club and say "Oooooo, purdy. Duh, box look neat. Let’s buy. Where’s the chewin’ tobaccy?" So, Acclaim gets cash for putting out trash, and apparently they are happy to do so. As long as people buy crap, publishers are going to release crap. Meanwhile, works of art such as Grandia sit on the shelf collecting dust. Damn, that pisses me off. Make no mistake, people, publishers are in this for the money, and they are going to produce what sells. So, if they can sell more NASCAR or wrestling games than an RPG or puzzle game, then that’s what they’re going to do. We’re already starting to get buried in mediocre racing and fighting games, and it’s only going to get worse. The Playstation release list tells the whole story: Out of every 20 titles on the way, only 1 of them is going to be any good. There is so much licensed crap and kiddie junk on the way that you’re gonna have to be mighty careful with your money. Research any prospective purchases, kids, ‘cause you don’t want to contribute to the problem, do you?

So, is it all doom and gloom? Thankfully, no. Companies such as Sega, Square, Capcom, Namco, and Working Designs continue to release quality title after quality title, with very few blemishes on their records. Square and Working Designs look like they’ll keep us RPGers happy well into the future. Namco has the market cornered on 3D fighting and racing, and Capcom’s 2D fighters and survival-horror titles are second to none. And, well, Sega does a little of everything. So, at least us hardcore will have something to play. Unfortunately, other companies seem to be swayed by the demands of the unintelligent. Konami has all but destroyed the Contra franchise, and its 3D Castlevania outings have been disasters. Sony seems content with churning out as much garbage as possible in the shortest amount of time. Sony’s sports games are almost all crap, and the endless Twisted Metal, Jet Moto, and Cool Boarders sequels get worse with each release. Luckily for Sony, its Japanese titles, such as Gran Turismo 2 and Legend of Dragoon, help to even out their library. Eidos releases 3 crap titles for every good one, and Midway and Infogrames are just as bad. And, Nintendo has abandoned the hardcore in favor of the sizable toddler market. How can we fight back? Simple, my friends: Only buy good games. It seems simple, but apparently most people aren’t doing it. I beg of you, support those brave companies that still release quality titles by purchasing their wares. And, conversely, do not further fill the coffers of those offensive companies by purchasing their crap. Like I have always said: "Money talks. Let your money talk for you, and publishers will listen." Words to live by.

I guess I’m sounding pretty elitist right now, but if you consider yourself hardcore, then I bet that you probably agree with me. We early-adopters made this industry what it is, but our opinions are in danger of being drowned out in the cacophony of cash-runs and sub-par duds that are being scooped up by those who don’t know any better. Looking at the release list for the next year, it’s obvious that we’re about to be buried in pretty crappy titles. It’s up to us to make those few quality releases stand out and sell well. Perhaps, with some sanity and a whole lotta luck, we can make the hardcore heard once more.

Note: The inflammatory comments spewed forth in Brad's Soapbox are his own editorial steps on the brink of madness, and are not necessarily the opinions of Gamehits, or anyone else on Earth, for that matter.

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