X Reasons the Games Industry Doesn't Suck

As I mentioned in my last post, Jason Della Rocca's talk on "at least 10 reasons why the games industry doesn't suck" inspired me to get on with writing some of the thing that have been on my mind that I've wanted to share on this blog.

As I sat down to write this, it occurred to me that perhaps others feel the way that "della", Darius and many others including myself feel about this industry being full of exciting potential, a great amount of which is starting to become realized. The sources of this great progress may be under-reported (and underrated!), but they are actually rather numerous and noteworthy. Some of it is right under our noses, some of it takes a broad perspective such as that which Della, Earnest Adams and others take on the games community to notice.

I don't know if my own perspective is broad or deep enough to state things any better than Jason and friends have done already, but I did have a neat idea that I hope catches on. So here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to start this process by listing five reasons why the industry doesn't suck. I propose that anyone who reads this list and has their own games-related blog do the same. If you can't think of 5 off the top of your head that you're passionate about, then start with three and add more later. I know I'll be adding to my list over time. (Though if you can't come up with five, you're just not trying hard enough. Yes, I know, skepticism may have to be set aside, if only for a moment -- but come on, you can do it!)

One last comment before I give my list: the style here, in terms of depth and linkage is definitely leaning towards brevity. Maybe I can offer you little more than a few choice words and some intriguing links. If so, then great.

Okay, so without further ado, here are my first five reasons why the games industry doesn't suck:

1.) Developers, developers, developers. As Steve Balmer once so famously emphasized, it's all about developers. Culture matters; players matter; market forces matter; but it's the developers who make the games. The developers are the ones who make the games and shape the experiences we have with them. Talking about games helps us appreciate them, playing games can bring us joy and fulfillment, but it's those talented developers among us who make it all possible. Need I even state that there are a great number of fantastically talented developers out there? Designers come first to mind, at least for me. Gods like Miyamoto, Wright, and Meier being most obvious. But there are so many more; artists, writers, and programmers who bring us to worlds we've never seen and emotions we've sometimes forgotten.... "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams."

2.) Money, money, money. The root of all evil, but also the embodiment of perceived value. Corporations may control, fame may corrupt, and the all-important "bottom line" may chill our romantic views of the industry, but in the end, the presence of so much money flowing into the industry proves one critical truth: people value games.

3.) Serious independent development initiative. As futile as it may seem trying to run an independent games company in today's industry may seem, the ongoing success stories of many groups currently visible and many more fledgling prospects yet to hit the limelight should serve as an inspiration to us all. Relatively big players like Valve are standing up for their right to control the profitable distribution of their games. Manifesto Games has struck out to provide a business-serious alternative publishing alternative for those bold enough to dare step out of the rat race and bring the focus back to innovation and exploring the many avenues to fun. Actually, the stories here are too many and diverse to do justice here. If you don't know about all this activity, I recommend you grab your favorite search engine and take a little time to familiarize yourself with these great companies and initiatives. They may well be paving the way for the real future of our industry.

4.) Games education. Early as it may be in its development around/next to/within an already premature industry, the games education community is starting to grow in a very serious way. The IGDA has just started up a new Education Special Interest Group for helping games educators across the world learn from each other, share resources, and develop a common lexicon for all aspects of game development. From what I've seen so far from our intrepid adventurers into this new field of study, a lot of great ideas will come out, and maybe, just maybe we can form a better bond between academia and industry than that which has resulted from most fields.


5.) Nintendo. There, I said it. No, this isn't about "I'm a fanboy and deep down you know you are too" or anything like that. What I'd like to argue is that Nintendo's success will be good for everyone in regards to the future of games. Think about it: If you're Microsoft or Sony, you figure: you've got the traditional/core games market in your pocket -- let Nintendo take all of the early risk seeing how much they can broaden the market. After all, it isn't as though the general consumer market isn't used to buying electronics from Sony and Microsoft. They can rest assured that when that market is proven, they can jump in a take a big 'ol piece out of it. (Heck, for that matter, who wants to guess the conversion rate of casual-gaming Wii owners to players who also play on XBox Live Arcade?)

And then there's the money. More players equals more money (see point #2 for why that's not necessarily a bad thing). One might also conceive that the Wii will offer fertile ground for alternative pricing models and games that cater to a radically different set of expectations of what a game must be/contain. How about no more forcing players to replay parts they don't like just to (supposedly) extend the number of hours the player will get out of it? How about more emphasis on just making it fun for a nearly endless amount of 10 - 30 minute play periods over the course of years if not a lifetime?

Oh, yeah, and then there's fun. Fun. Sometimes I feel like Microsoft and Sony actually believe that they sell hype, pure and simple. It's as though the word "entertainment" means MTV-pop-culture shove-the-new-stuff-down-everyone's-throat salesmanship. Nintendo, it seems, has always kept the emphasis on fun -- good, solid games that can stand the test of time. To me, that's an invaluable focus to have from such a relatively big player in the industry.


And with that, I've made my first five attempts to shed the light of things-are-looking-up. Now, please, please, please, if you have a games or general blog of your own: help me continue this list! Reiterate what I've said if you agree; put an emphasis on a different angle of something I've talked about if you don't entirely agree but have something else positive to say (for example: money itself is bad, but the attention it brings can be good in X way...); go read Della's 10 reasons and see what you're inspired by; do whatever it takes to get those juices going and please contribute.

If you link to this post in yours I'll be sure to see it in track-backs and we can all contribute comments to each others' posts. I'll see you there!