With the credit crunch seemingly dominating our headlines for most of the end of last year and no doubt for the majority of this year, it almost feels good to fall back on the ol' Israeli - Palestinian love in that happens now and again.
All jokes aside, the Global Credit crunch is hitting every single industry hard. Automobiles, tourism, retail - everywhere is feeling the hit from a problem that's going to shape the economies of many countries for years to come. But how has it affected the games industry? Well, I've been following it for a while, and the ramifications that the crunch could have on the games industry is gigantic.
Firstly, the games industry has been hit hard. Real hard. Just as it was starting to show true potential and profit (with the rise of the behemoth know as the *shudder* Wii), companies are drastically firing left right and centre in order to maximise their potential for profit. First, it started with rumours of Microsoft firing as many as 17,000 workers, which is an immense amount of staff. This news was quickly followed by even further shocking news regarding not just the Sony Playstation, but the Sony Brand.
With Sony making a still making a loss on the PS3 and their flatscreen TV's, combined with the credit crunch - there's talk of them even closing divisions. Including gaming divisions, which would be a sad, sad loss with the talent that's available. This move could infact turn Sony into the new SEGA after the Dreamcast. The PS3 as their last platform and Sony becoming a publishing house.
Weirdly enough - despite the hard, penny pinching times - throughout the christmas period there was a record amount of sales.
Either way, it hasn't been enough. It didn't save Woolworths, or Zavvi - and it looks like game developer Midway have ran into problems even though they've been given a lifeline, it still looks like they're going to go the way of the shitter.
The same has been happening with Video Game websites and magazines, which is just as bad. Established community (and one of my most visited gaming sites) 1up.com was bought over by the Hearst corporation - resulting in the closing of the EGM magazine but more importantly (well.. to me anyway...) the firing of many staff at 1up.com, that were told they would keep their jobs. These weren't just regular staff - they were staff that were renown for the community side of 1up. The podcasts, and videos. And they were just about to have a live SF4 question session while they played it :(
So, as can be seen. No industry is safe. Unfortunately the gaming industry is taking it hard, lets just hope it can recover and carry on flourishing.
All comments welcome.
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The saddest loss for me is free radical. While I don't cling to any nostalgia regarding timesplitters, it's odd to think that if Haze was developed properly they'd still be on the go.
ReplyDeleteOh and about GTA4 - I'm a fan of the series since the original on ps1/pc - but I think the dark humour's still in tact. Lazlo's new show, strange characters like Brucie, Packie - it's a lot more diverse and in general the playground feels much more immersive. But hey I can't convince you :p
Out of interest what's your opinion on the new Killzone?
The problem with Free Radical was that - to me - they were a one trick pony. Time Splitters was great, but then most of the other games they created were pretty much average.
ReplyDeleteHaze was touted as breaking the mould - but it did nothing to do so and in my mind proved that all the love for Free Radical among the gaming community was pretty much nostalgia.
Heh, we'll agree to disagree on GTA :P. Still, I'm looking forward to seeing the downloadable content for the 360 - 'The Lost and the Damned', enabling you to play as a member of a biker gang. Should be interesting.
As for the new Killzone, I'm fairly happy about it. It's an exclusive coming out on the platform, but looks like it has finally lived up to the hype - the first was hyped up and didn't live up to it at all.
Not only that, but given that it's an FPS aswell, through good marketing I imagine it could be a great system seller, all good for the market and competition.