Comment Re:Layoffs... (Score 1) 32
Us older gamers can remember when games were made by developers because, well, they liked playing games, and wanted to make good games - their hearts and souls went into it, and people were constantly awed by the stories and gameplay.
Warren Spector has always struck me as this kind of person, as is Peter Molyneux and Ian Livingstone (who I had the pleasure of working with very closely at one time).
Of course, Warren became a marketable item. It was ok when everyone was looking for the next best thing from John Romero, and Warren was very much in the shadows, creeping in with the Thief series and System Shock, but with the surprise hit of Deus Ex (and the failure of Daikatana), all of a sudden, Warren was da man!
But, you see, with that kind of attention, the publishers (Eidos, in this case, but they all do it) suddenly want to make sure the next game is a definite hit, and thus stick their oar in. While he was happily working in the shadows, noone really took much notice what he was doing, so he had a lot longer leash, but no longer, and thus, you have the ruination of another potentially great game (DX2).
As for most of the development being temps and contractors... what do they care? They have no real cause to care whether the game does well or not... they get paid either way.
Thus, those who once lived for games, pouring their heart and soul into their projects, are now gone, and you are left with mindless automatons doing the work, and then you all moan coz the games are boring or unoriginal.
Until we, as consumers, stand up and say 'no, we're not buying your games', the situation will become worse. And at the moment, while mass-market is still quite strong, that is unlikely to make much difference, but that is waining too - it's just a matter of time (and again, the signs are there)
It's too late, imho - any real gamers are now enmeshed in MMORPG's or going back to older games or even pen & paper RPG's, because at least you have control over what is going on. The core-market is gone, and no market can live without it's heart.
Strangely, I predicted this over 3 yrs ago, but noone listened then and I doubt anyone listens now, but the signs are there - I'm just waiting for the big crash, when I can happily go back to being 'that weird guy in the corner that plays games'. At least then there may be someone with the balls to make something interesting...
