Profile: saydur
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• • As gas prices rise will video game sales go up?

  • Video games are artificially underpriced.  The NES back in the late 1980s was released at $200, but games ran $50-60.  During the SNES era, games ran anywhere from $50-90 new, with battery backup RPGs running the highest of those.   Fast forward to the Playstation 2 era under Gamestop/EB Games, and we've come to expect $40-50 new releases.  Then, when the Xbox 360 and PS3 started pushing games back to the $50-60 range, there was a bit of outcry, but we've started to accept it.

    In 1987, a $60 video game would run $112 today.  The $40 releases we see would have been $22 in those days.  Much of this can be attributed to cheaper production costs, but not the entirety by any means.  Mass production and a much larger game industry means we fully expect more for less, filtering a lot of junk, and successful games are rewarded with huge fanbases, or at least loyal fanbases which provide enough for dedicated game makers to continue work they enjoy for a modest profit.

    So, to view things from this angle, gaming has become consistently cheaper, the recent $10 price hike in new releases really only offsets the past few years from the start of the PS2 era.  Games shouldn't cost $112 apiece, but it's no stretch to say that if not for greater popularity and certain forced control, the price of games would easily be more like $60-80 for new releases and perhaps rightfully so.

    Generally, those who buy lots of video games are prone to doing so regardless of gas prices, those who buy a few casually are not exceptionally prone to buy more due to gas prices or any other prices in the cost of living.  Entertainment budgets are slashed, which means gas-related entertainment goes down first.  This doesn't mean video game related entertainment goes up so much, as perceived value is a tricky thing.  Those who play lots of games may see them as high value in comparison, but casual gamers have a limit to their intake, whereas hardcore gamers typically spend what they can anyway.

    What I'm getting at here is that the situation leaves the video game market appearing fairly resilient in the face of economic downturns, but it has little room to benefit on an absolute scale.  At best, one could hope for the sustained strength to bode well with an economic upswing, permitting for strong growth without the pruning of a recession.  Of course, with the mainstream nature of gaming these days, the question is really how much territory there is left to expand.

     

  • Posted: 5/09/08 1:20 PM
    General Discussion
• • Wind Slayer beta, may 6th.

  • All accusations of manliness or lack thereof aside, this game is amongst the elite few that managed to convince me to delete within the first 10 minutes of play.

    First, forced full screen.  Hate that.  Then it refuses to full screen properly on a dual monitor setup.  Hate that, usually fixable with resolution tweaks, but this has no option.  Okay, it's early beta, I'll give it a pass this far.  Then, the character creation.  Graphics are underwhelming.  It's not the style, it's just that they do a poor enough job of it.  Then I start to play.

    The control system is a worse failure than point-and-click with no click-and-hold.  That can't be excused.  It's just too obviously a Maple Story clone that didn't even try hard enough.  I don't mean just action MMO.  I mean, this freaking game looks like it took the overly-Korean aspects of early MMOs, threw them into Maple Story, and came up with a huge failure in the end.

    I'm just going to go back and hope LaTale is translated.

  • Posted: 5/09/08 1:03 PM
    General Discussion
• • Seeking a new time-waster.

  • Well, from what I've seen in LOTRO, I'd just rather give in to WoW.  FFXI probably would have been great for me, but I tried it and never really got into it.  Not sure what STO is, and I'll give DOMO a shot.  I almost went into that beta, but then it seemed to have a bunch of the Scions of Fate crowd, and while good people, the game just disappointed to tear-inducing levels.

    Not bad ideas so far though, thanks for the suggestions as it stands.   Still looking for stuff to recapture some of the fun of Ragnarok, ROSE, or Trickster.  Friends are waving WoW free trials under my nose like crack vials, and I'm not sure how long I'll hold out...

  • Posted: 5/09/08 12:39 PM
    General Discussion
• • Seeking a new time-waster.

  • Alright, I'd like a few suggestions here.  I want an idle time-waster MMO.  Nothing I plan on playing hardcore, but perhaps a decent bit casually.  So, I'm not as picky on it being the next big awesome game.

    I want something with varying stat/skill builds.  Ragnarok Online was the best at this, individual classes usually had at least two or three ways to play, if not more.  There were also plenty of classes to choose from, although I can satisfy myself on less.

    I prefer something that looks decent.  Anime style usually works well due to the simple nature being hard to screw up.  3d has higher expectations.  What I'm trying to avoid is the half-assed effort from some 3d MMOs that would have looked good in 2000.

    Preferably, the player base will be interesting enough to talk to.  College age range is good, but just so long as I don't get thrown into a prepubescent hellish Runescape-like world, I can usually survive.  Preferrably English-speaking playerbase.  Singaporean/Malaysian is workable for a really good game.

    The music should be good.  Good music makes the game more interesting.  It shouldn't be a huge factor, but sometimes it just really is.

    Preferably something easy to pick up.  I've had plenty of MMO experience, but I don't have much tolerance for a high learning curve unless the game is positively engrossing.

    I also tend to prefer fantasy over sci-fi.  Martial arts is interesting story-wise, but the skill set is always lacking.

    I'd also take my own advice on Mabinogi, but it just feels a bit too time-intensive right now.  If nothing else pops up, I'll probably go back to it anyway.  Still, any suggestions would be appreciated.  I'd be willing to try anything, even if it's not an exceptional game, just so long as it's got something fun.  Like Trickster, which had a card game that I was positively addicted to and did particularly well at.  That one would be fun, but the leveling was a bit pathetic, drilling was only amusing for so long, and the player base deteriorated pretty bad.

     

    Well, I know it's a tall order.  Anything even remotely resembling these ideas would be nice.  Even if it just winds up being something I play for two weeks and bail on like Dofus, that'd work.  Mining, item creation, it's all good, but not required.  Any sort of depth whether in character stats/skills, item creation, or ad-hoc instances (Fiesta was good at that) would be appreciated.

  • Posted: 5/08/08 12:26 PM
    General Discussion
• • Looking for MMO with the following spefications

  • That's a tough one.  First, "free" games will have item shops, and item shops generally mean people who pay get an advantage.  Up until recently, Maple Story was an exception in that paying money meant you had fashion options, then player stores which added convenience, and now 2x exp coupons which change the game entirely.

    Random level-ups are all but impossible.  That creates innate disparity between characters, which would lead to continuous re-creation of characters to get perfect stats.  Not likely to happen.  Most go for "customizable" stats where you pump one or two stats only as necessary to hit enemies or use gear, then load all points into a primary stat for attacking power.  Pre-done stats usually lead to characters following one of a few builds in terms of skills.  The single best game I've seen with regards to stats is the old classic Ragnarok Online, where stats are player-distributed, but have several viable paths available to use certain classes for certain tasks.

    High customization- If it has an item shop with fashion gear, that's where you get customization.  Otherwise, the options are usually limited except for some p2p games.

    What you want sounds closest to Ragnarok Online.  Customization is surprisingly high with various hats, clothes dying, and a decent spread of character classes including stat/skill builds.  The official server isn't free though.

     

  • Posted: 5/08/08 12:07 PM
    General Discussion