I see good and bad things on both sides. The main stream is trying to keep itself afloat in a more and more critical environment. As gamers we are more critical of games, and have more ways to talk about games and why we do or don't like them. Even worse the market has widened out beyond the hardcore gamers, more and more casual gamers are being targeted to try and keep the games being sold. This is cutting out people looking for more focus on their idea of gaming. But at the same time some of my favourite games have come out during this time, games that are more fun to play then anything else I have tried. Red Dead Redemption comes to mind, as does Dead Rising 2. We tend to brush aside games that aren't our idea of perfect and forget that others might really enjoy them, and if enough people enjoy them it is okay for a game maker to focus on them. The money spent on buying those games might just end up making that game we want.
The indie market is an all or nothing market, games either make it or don't. It is also a lot slower, games have little funding and to get them out takes a lot longer. Stuff like Minecraft is an exception to the indie market, often the games that you really want to make it just don't. Or the people making them get fed up and stop, or just get tired of working on the same game for 5 years. Even Notch got tired of Minecraft, he ended up handing over the game to Jeb, many would argue for the better since Jeb seems more willing to take the big risks. There are other games I am really looking forward to, and even dropped some money on that are still at their infancy. Wether they make it and my money was really well spent will have to be seen (though I dropped the money because the game as it is to me is worth it but others would argue that point.).
So yeah both sides bring something to the table, and I think the thing we as gamers need to do is simple. Support the games we like and don't buy the games we don't like. We need to be more aware of games before we buy them so we aren't throwing our money at someone who will think we want more of a game we turn out to dislike. That goes for both markets, keeping yourself informed on the games is something gamers need to do more.
Edit: Is this the guy who made Braid? I haven't watched the video, don't know if I really want to...but from what I have heard this guy is a huge egotistical ass. Thinks very highly of himself and himself alone really.
|