Has The Games Industry Never Had It So Good?

[Booldawg]

Is this now the golden age of gaming?

With piracy not the problem it used to be, DLC coining it in for games developers and the rise in popularity of gaming I see this as the most profitable era.

No wonder they can afford big names to come in and do the voice overs!

[Old_Geezer]

How is piracy not a problem ? You don't Google the right sites.
Were it a golden age then surely there'd be something worth pirating out there.

[Booldawg]

maybe I shouldve added the caveat 'console wise'. Console sales are up on what they were vice PC games. I believe that the console platform is less prone to piracy (unless I'm living a sheltered life!)

[Old_Geezer]

Never felt brave enough to admit I'd bought a game box as an adult. So never have. Now a PC is used for responsible adult things. If I happen across a game then of course that is purely a side issue. Honest.

That said my niece & nephew had a game box of some sort, where you could do exercises on it. Did wonder about buying an old second hand model and getting some exercise in, but I knew I wouldn't keep it up.

[Mattk]

I thought sales were falling?

[Booldawg]

yeah I noticed you were back on Skyrim the other night. Its one of those games you can just pick up months later and love all over again.

[Sharingan]

I'm mostly on Skyrim, WOW and HALO, I like big epic games, can't be doing with tedious football manager types thing, epics you can pick up and put down as you please and they never stale when you go back unless you take an arrow to the knee xx

[jim360]

Halo for me - I played RuneScape in my time but stopped a year ago -- too time consuming and not likely to pick up again soon.

[LazyGun]

I think you are probably right when it comes to console games, booldawg. Revenue streams are pretty good from the high profile games, like Call of Duty, HALO, Gears of War and all of that, and the studios are spending a lot of money on high production values.Games are permeating all walks of the Creative Industries - The composer of Skyrims score recently picked up an award in Classic FMs Hall of Fame :)

I think the golden age might well come with the next generation of consoles though, with all that the improved specs mean for production values and games design.

Not sure that games are quite as innovative as they once were - that would be my main concern I think. The current gaming industry trend seems to be mirroring the trend within the film industry of big blockbuster titles with many sequels, which exchanges brand and familiarity for genuine innovation.

And some of the games companies are still struggling over how they manage the Digital Rights Management - bane of all gamers - witness the recent fiasco over the latest Sim City title.

I would agree that DLC represent a continuing and profitable revenue stream - but again for gamers, the trend needs to be monitored carefully - are they reducing original game content within the initial game in order to offer DLC which they can charge for and keep the title alive for longer?

[Booldawg]

I think you're exactly right lazy, developers are holding alot back in hope of the DLC revenue. You pay for a very basic game these days. Multiplayer adds peer pressure to buy what your mates have, else be 'left out of the fun'

Thats why I like Skyrim. Yes, it has its share of DLC but can be enjoyed as a game in its own right without the need for MP or DLC.