Why bad games keep selling.

Ever since I've been looking back at the 2005 selling records for video games, I've been kinda depressed. Sure, obvious hits existed- Resident Evil 4 to name one of the bigger ones. But, really, the gaming industry continues to be flooded with mundane games that seem to sell really well. Why is this? And why aren't companies like EA, who are already incurring major losses this year, making new franchises and experimenting? Time to explain why, and why you should stop buying (some) video games.

The Gaming industry has finally reached the point in which it is a mature, stable market. Much like the movie industry in it's younger years, the Gaming industry never had a strong hold on the market until about 2003. This is primarily because it was such a new technology and such a luxury, that your standard consumer will not consider Video Gaming as essential as watching movies or listening to music. Finally, after about 20 years of the up-and-down economy (Getting as good as the gaming boom with the Nintendo 64 and getting as bad as the period during the NES when gaming looked like it was going to die out completely). Finally, the economy has balanced itself out. Sony and Nintendo no longer have to worry about widespread losses of games. So, now it's down like a normal industry, and it's time for the tires to hit the road on normal marketing strategies.

Believe it or not, especially with luxury items, your purchases have a huge effect on the eventual availability of products. For example, if you were to get a bunch of people to flood and buy shooter games (Which, people do), then the industry would note this and produce more shooter games. Huge purcases of fantasy MMORPGs? More will naturally be sold. Yes, I know that developers usually come out with what they want, but believe it or not, Publishers have a huge say in what comes out and how it's sold. I doubt any real decent developer on the planet would willingly come up with that joke of a "Shadow the Hedgehog", but it happened.

Why is all this happening? Why do World War II games come out in scores, yet it seems like no developer in his right mind will do anything original? Why are innovative games like Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney or Tokobot generally ignored and cancelled or undersold, whereas 50 Cent's latest game gets purchases like it's made out of platinum? It's quite unfair. What essentially happens is that good games are pushed out of the market, whereas the same thing with better graphics is given medals and honors. We really don't need a new World War II game, or a new generic Anime-based RPG. But they continue to be made, worse off than before.

Again, I really blame this on the consumer market. When Jack Thompson, Hillary Clinton, or anyone else with an agenda starts blaspheming companies making violent games, they really do not understand WHY these games are being made. It's not necessarilly because Rockstar can only make these games, they could make a completely "Clean" GTA game and still do relatively well. The answer is, these games sell. Rockstar continues to be a "Notorious" developer because they know they sell more games that way. Their newest game, Bully, may not be worth a damn, but it will sell purely because it has their now notorious logo on it. Needless to say, this will continue on until they make a faux pas or just plain out quit.

This is really dissapointing. When the gaming industry was turbulent, games HAD to be good, or else they would generally fail. Even EA back then had to be original with the Madden games, it was because Video Gaming was new, and it was definately not considered a must-have luxury. Due to that, there had to be hard work, sweat, and blood to get 12 year old teenagers listening to MC Hammer casettes into those arcades and off their skateboards. It took a lot more work to get them to shell out $200+ to play a console at home. It just plain out took planning, work, and good games. Sure, the NES had a bunch of bad games, but it also knew how to gloss over them and focus on it's main hitters.

This explains why a lot of companies are going to start making desperate attempts this year. EA laid off a huge percentage of it's staff- simply because gamers are getting sick of mediocre gaming franchises and movie-to-game adaptations. It's time to see what EA will do to prove they don't deserve to die. I personally have never been a big fan of EA so far as their franchises are concerned, I consider them like a mill for mediocre games and bland titles. Part of me wants Electronic Arts to die off and just allow room to move for innovative developers who don't want to bend over to the mighty EA label. Part of me wants them to actually start accepting new titles by indie developers and stop trying to buy out big groups for security (See: Maxis).

So, as you watch this year in gaming, keep in mind that this is probably the first year we will see when the competition heats up, companies are losing money, and they're treading water trying to prevent a complete death of the industry before it even gets fired up with the new consoles. The newer released consoles, the Revolution and the PS3, will probably decide the fate of the industry. When you decide to purchase that next game, remember- you may be putting in a vote for the industry to die or live. Don't buy that shitty Sonic the Hedgehog pack, invest your money in indie titles and fund people to be creative. Don't buy the new Nintendo DS just because it's shiny, tell Nintendo you're tired of them repackaging the same thing over and over again. Don't let Microsoft fool you, the 360 is, right now, a horrible investment of your money. And by god, don't let Sony fool you into a PS3 nirvana. Be careful, and maybe we'll see some good games flow in.

And maybe not a sequel to 50 Cent: Bulletproof.