Hoo boy. It seems like the topic of "hardcore" versus "casual" gaming and social network games has been brought back from the dead. Didn't I already end this conflict with my Undeniable Logic™? Geez! Looks like someone hasn't been reading my blog!
For those of you that have been living under a rock (and for the hyperlink impaired), it all started when Nintendo's CEO, Satoru Iwata included a strong critique of such games in his keynote speech at the GDC2011. One would assume he was trying to persuade game developers not to give up on "real" games to focus on games with less "value" or "content", manly social network games or iPhone games because of the increased cost/effort/profit ratio.
If you ask me, I definitely see his point. Here you have powerful corporations investing millions to put out the latest in videogame systems, only to have all the talented game developers make another Angry Birds (or as Iwata would say: "Angry Verse") clone. From his point of view (based on sales figures, mostly), this is a bad thing. And I don't want bad things to happen to Nintendo.
From my point of view, Social network games are the ultimate evil, but that is mostly because of their questionable ethics. Smartphone games are not a serious threat from where I stand, mainly because I do not own a smartphone. But even if I did, I'd only get free games as a novelty.
Anyhow, before the riots begin, I come with a series of proposals to end this debacle; because I'm awesome like that. But it's not going to be pretty.
During a discussion in an online forum I frequent, someone mentioned the possibility great games suddenly turning into Farmville's would be like books turning into comics.
So I thought this would be a great analogy. There are many kinds of media based on print. Hardcovers, paperbacks, newspapers, magazines, comic books… and these different formats are divided by sub-formats, then genres and subgenres.
Up until today, Farmville, World of Warcraft, Angry Birds, Tetris and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time would all be placed in together on the "Video Games" shelf (oh, the blasphemy!). And if at any rate the games are separated, it's by platform. PlayStation games are put on a shelf right next to the Wii games… both on the Video Games section.
The only problem is that in the end they are all called "video games", and they're still compared to each other on an equal scale.
The concept has grown too big, but yet the people who create these pieces of art, and the people who consume them, are expected to wrap themselves around it.
The video games industry should really look into the printing industry for ideas as of how to make clear divisions between the different platforms and genres, and how to make each of them individually respected as a genuine form of art. And I think they should start by stopping the use of the term "video game".
Here's my proposal, first, "Video" no longer our universal format:
- Console Game
- Handheld Game
- Smartphone Game
- Social Network Game
- Web-based Game
Second, "game" is no longer the universal genre:
- Console Action/Platformer
- Handheld Puzzle/RPG
- Smartphone RTS
- Social Network Farming Simulator
- Web-based Fighter
Sure, the industry is going to have to come up with catchier, more marketable terms, but other than that I think the problem is mostly solved. I'm aware the boundaries between these platforms and genres are quite blurred, the same applies to print, and you can still find what you're looking for in a bookstore after all these centuries.
I know it's sad. But I'm afraid there is no other way. From this point on, developers would specialize in one or a few of these entirely separate concepts. Kids would walk up to their mothers and say "Mom, when I grow up I want to be an RPG designer!" FPS jocks would drop the "gamer" façade, face the fact that all they care for is First Person Shooters, and leave us Puzzlers alone. If a really stupid game comes out for the iPhone, it would not stain the PlayStation's reputation…
…From this point on, When Nintendo dedicates millions of dollars to designing a new gaming platform; their CEO will already have an idea of what developers are working on and what the public is consuming. From this point on, anyone who's serious about gaming can completely disregard the existence of Farmville.
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