ECGC 2011: Is the Gaming Market About to Crash?

[gm0n3y]

You know, now that I think about, Flash games have actually take a pretty sizable chuck of my regular gaming time away from my usual FPS/RTS games. So maybe we are in for a revolution. I like to think that the core gaming segment won't shrink, its just the the 'light' gaming market will grow much faster.

 

[s4fun]

Light gaming is like lite beer, it is just piss water, and I don't even drink.

 

[old_newbie]

Great discussion. IMHO there just isnt anything driving the industry right now. What drove the gaming market for most of its lifespan was it trying to deliver the "arcade experience" in the home. Games/systems had been inferior ports of the arcade machines. It wasn't until, say, the Saturn/PS1 era when a home system could deliver a pixel perfect arcade port. Once this happened though, besides the obvious decline of the arcade machine, there was nothing for the market to shoot for anymore. The only thing driving the market since then are better graphics and sequel games.

I think gamers are looking for fresh experiences. Love or hate nintendo, the Wii ushered in the "interactive experience" and they did very well (even without the latest graphics). They are poised to do so again with a "glasses-free 3D handheld gaming experience". In addition, the PC gamer has been enjoying the "online multiplayer experience" for a while and the market is doing very well. Even 'social network' games are blossoming (ewww).

Bottom line is that gamers are looking for better ways to play. If the gaming market does eventually crash, it will be because the game developers ignored the demands for new, fun, and innovative game experiences.